!-« 




.0^ <!. ^ * " A 















^- * H > ^^^ 



'i^' 



c 






^o >P^^. 



0^ . 



.V- 



% 






, \^ 



o,'?-- 









'^^..^ 






v\^ "^^ 



'V' 






.\' 






\ 1 8 



<* 









A 



v^^t- 






,aN 



r^- 









^^y- <^^ 









'<. 









.-^^ 



.^^^ 



,-o- 









/^ • , , , • ' \* . . . ^, 



.,. ,^^ 



\- 






'^^ 






'<'. 



"^. .<^?^' 






<>%. 



/>,^V 










^oo^ 






^ o 



















:>.o^' 



,^^.-«. <^ 



:5 7 




4 






LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 



GEOEGE EEAD 



f igtt^r 0i iUt §uhvuim t^t ^mU\imAt\m 



NOTICES OF SOME OF HIS CONTEMPORARIES. 
f 



BY HIS GRANDSON 

WILLIAM THOMPSON READ. 



PHILADELPHIA: 

J. B. LIPPINCOTT & CO. 

1870. 






Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1870, by 

WILLIAM T. BEAD, 
In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington. 



TO THE 

CITIZENS OF THE STATE OF DELAWARE 

THE 

LIFE OF GEOEGE EEAD, 

A SIGNER OF THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE, 

BY THE AUTHOR. 



PREFACE. 



In the year 1821 the author of the "Life of George Read," at the 
request of the heads of his family, wrote a " Sketch" of his life for the 
"Biography of the Signers of the Declaration of Independence," then 
being published, which, being approved by them, was printed in the 
third volume of that work. Upon the decease of the father of the 
author, in 1836, the papers of George Read came into his possession. 
A careful examination of these papers showed that the sketch of Mr. 
Read's life was an imperfect and inadequate record of his services and 
character. The author felt it to be his duty to attempt a fuller one^ but 
shrunk from the task, diffident of his ability to execute it as he wished 
it to be executed, and was diverted from it by duties and avocations 
which could not be put aside, until a recent period, when, warned by 
his near approach to the ordinary term of human life, he felt that this 
attempt, if to be made by him, could no longer be deferred. Besides 
the papers of Mr. Read, above mentioned, letters — valuable materials 
of this work — have been obtained and incorporated in it. Mr. Read's 
correspondence comprises letters of the most eminent of his contem- 
poraries, now first published, except eight printed in the "Sketch" of 
his life, in the "Biography of the Signers." The author considered it 
impracticable to write the life of Mr. Read as he thought it ought to be 
attempted, without writing at the same time, to some extent at least, 
the history of the deeply-interesting period with which, as a public 
man, Mr. Read was closely connected ; but, as well he might, recoiled 
from repeating the narrative of events familiar to all, and which he 
could not even hope to invest with interest. 

The letters of Mr. Read's eminent contemporaries seemed to require, 
while they gave opportunity for, the brief notices of their writers in 
these pages, and it appeared to be a duty to preserve facts which 

(vii) 



V 



viii PREFACE. 

might be valuable for the history of Delaware yet to be Avritten. 
Opinions of men, of measures, of events, and on questions v^rhich 
claimed consideration, have been expressed in this book, the author 
will not dare to assert without error, but, where he has erred, without 
intentional injustice. The meagre sketch in the "Biography of the 
Signers of the Declaration of Independence" has been expanded to 
this volume, which, with this necessary preface, is submitted to the 
public. 

New Castle, Delaware, 

November 15th, 1870. 



LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 



GEORGE READ. 



CHAPTER I. 

Mr. Read's birth — Account of his parents — Their removal from Maryland to 
Delaware — His education — His school-fellows — Dr. Allison — He commences the 
study of the law — Mr. Molsmd — His confidence in Mr. licad — Mr Read's ad- 
mission to the bar — His letter to his parents as to his settlement — Relinquishes 
his rig-ht to a double portion of his father's estate — The law as to dcaible portion 
— Settles in jS'ew Castle, and practises in the three lower counties * n Delawa^-e, 
and one or more in Pennsylvania — His competitors— Succeeds -lohn Ross as 
Attorney-General— Resigns attorney-generalship in 1774 — Eminem as a special 
pleader — His influence great — His almanacs and bets — Letter from .! ohn Dickin- 
son to Mr. Read — Notice of John Dickinson's first speech, and oT Gallowaj'^'s 
reply thereto, and of the prefaces to these speeches — Mr. Read's marriage, and 
notice of Mrs. Read — Mr. Dickinson's congratulatory letter to him on his 
marriage — Mr. Read elected to the General Assembly of Delaware — Applies for 
the office of collector of New Qastle, and fails to receive it — His letters and 
those of Franklin — Letters of Mr. Neave on the troubles of the mother-coimtry 
and her colonies, and part of rough draft of a letter of Mr. Read in reply — Letter 
of Mr. Wharton — Mr. Read's farm— Colonel Bedford — His marriage with Mr. 
Read's sister — Colonel Read — Mr. Read advocates the observance of the Sabbath 
— His rules to preserve health — Result of election in 1769 — Colonial lotteries, 
and remarks on the subject of lotteries— Correspondence of Mr. Read with his 
brothers — Notice of Captain Thomas Read — Frigate Alliance — Appendix A, 
notice of John Ross — Appendix B, roll of militia company, 1757 — Appendix C, 
notice of Rev George Ross — Appendix D, notice of John Dickinson — -Appendix 
E, Thomas Read. 

George Read was born in Cecil County, in the Province 
of Maryland, September 18th, in the year 1733, and was 
the eldest of six brothers. His father, John Read, was the 
son of a wealthy citizen of Dublin, and having emigrated 
to America, settled in Cecil County, where he became 
a respectable planter. Soon after the birth of his eldest 
son he removed to New Castle County, in the Province of 
Delaware, and established himself on the head-waters of 
the Christiana River. 

The parents of Mr. Read determined, at an early period, 
to confer such an education on their son as would enable 

2 (9) 



10 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 

liim to pursue one of the learned professions. The small 
number of schools was at that period a serious obstacle to 
the dissemination of knowledge. The nearest reputable 
seminary to the residence of Mr. Read's parents was at 
Chester, in the Province of Pennsylvania, where he was 
taught the rudiments of the learned languages. From this 
school he was removed to New London, in the same Prov- 
ince, and placed under the care of the Rev. Dr. Allison, a 
man eminently qualified for the arduous task of imparting 
instruction to youth. Deeply versed in the dead languages, 
his mind was free from the alloy too often mingled with 
the pure gold of classic lore ; he explored the mazes of 
science, in solitary study, without being ignorant of the 
world, without despising the beauties of elegant literature, 
and without neglecting the decencies of society. His 
knowledge of human nature enabled him quickly to dis- 
cern the bent of a pupil's genius, his master vice, and 
dominant foible.* 

Among the fellow-pupils of Mr. Read were Charles 
Thomson, Secretary of Congress, Hugh Williamson,f a 
member of that body from North Carolina, and Dr. Ewing, 
Provost of the University of Pennsylvania, eminent ns a 
mathematician and astronomer. Jhe meeting, in after-life, 
of the first three of these distinguished men must, under 
any circumstances, have been pleasing, but to meet, as it 
occurred in the present instance, in the American Congress 
of 1774, a body endued with Roman spirit and Roman vir- 
tue, and political knowledge such as no Roman ever attained, 
— to meet in that illustrious assembly the guardian of the 
rights of three millions of their fellow-men, must have been 
to them a source of deep-felt gratification. 

Mr. Read diligentlyj pursued his studies, under the care 



* " Dr. Francis Allison was afierwards Vice-Provost and Professor 
of INIoral Philosophy in the University of Pennsylvania, and justly 
entitled, from his talents, learning, and discipline, the Rushy of the 
Western Hemisphere." — Jlosack^s JSiof/rap/iical Memoir of Hugh 
Williamson, in the Collections of the New York Historical Society, 
p. 131, vol. iii. 

f Volume iii. Collections of New. York Historical Society, p. 132. 

i So diligently, or rather ardently, that, as his sister, Mrs. Bedford, 
related, when his candle was taken from liim at bedtime, he studied his 
grammar-lesson by iirc-light. 



OF GEOBGE READ. H 

of Dr. Allison, until his fifteenth year, at which early age 
he was removed from school, and, on the 28tli day of Sep- 
tember, 1749, commenced the study of the law with .lohn 
Moland, Esquire, an eminent lawyer of the city of Phihi- 
delphia. An education terminated at so early a period of 
life, must, necessarily, have been incomplete; but the dis- 
advantage of being forced into the world with a scanty 
stock of knowledge was commcm to his contemporaries, 
who, having their bread to earn, because their parents had 
large families and moderate estates, entered on the study and 
practice of professions at ages which must have appeared 
to Europeans immature indeed. Mr. Read actively applied 
himself to the study of his profession. It required more in- 
tense application at that period than it does at present to 
qualify a young man for admission to the bar. The student 
was not then assisted by digests, abridgments, and excellent 
elementary treatises on every ramification of the law. The 
great toil which at that day was requisite to the attainment 
of legal knowledge was best calculated to form habits on 
which were founded the most certain presages of eminence 
at the bar and erudition on the bench. Hence Mr. Read 
was conspicuous in after-life for research and accuracy, and 
the margins of almost every book in the extensive law- 
library he possessed are covered with his notes, so true it is 
that tlie foundation of industrious habits is always laid in 
early life. The confidence reposed by Mr. Moland in the 
abilities, integrity, and steadiness of his young student was 
so great that long before iiis apprenticeship expii^'ed he 
intrusted him with his docket, and confided to him all his 
attorney's business. Indeed, the talents, industry, zeal, and 
uprightness of Mr. Read, while in the office of Mr. Moland, 
generated an attachment towards his pupil stronger and 
more permanent .than the relation of lawyer and student 
usually produces. Mr. Moland in his will enjoined his 
family to consult Mr. Read on all occasions of difficulty, 
and to repose implicit confidence in his advice.'-' John 

* It may be inferred from the following letter that this injunction was 
obeyed : 

" Sir, — I assm'e you, I seldom take a pen in my hand but it is to give 
some of my friends trouble. 1 have teased good Mr. Dickinson till lie 
is weary of me; and now, to make a l)eginning with you, 1 send, in- 
closed, a parcel of notes of hand, to see if you can get the money [due 



12 LIFE AND COBRESPONDENCE 

Dickinson was one of his fellow students, and the friendship 
contracted between the young men, nurtured by the recip- 
rocation of good offices and growing conviction of each 
other's worth, was onl}^ interrupted by the death of Mr. 
Read, a few years anterior to the decease of the distin- 
guished author of the "Farmers' Letters." In a letter to 
Messrs. Read and Wharton, without date, but written by 
Mr. Dickinson just before he embarked for England, whither 
he went to complete (in the "Temple") the study of the law% 
and while Mr. Read was yet in Mr. Moland's office, and 
therefore before or early in 1753, Mr. Dickinson takes a 
most affectionate leave of his late associates. He is evidently 
much excited and elated by the prospect of his voyage, and 
if passages of the letter be written with undue levity, his 
youth and, circumstanced as he was, almost unavoidable 
exhilaration may excuse it, and a warm and kindly feeling for 
Mr. Read and other friends pervades it, which exhibits him 
very advantageousl3^ He begs to be remembered to Groves, 
Oldman, and other friends who may inquire for him, and 
especially to Mr. Moland and family; and in the postscript 
asks his friend to order the printer s boy to leave his paper 
with the "sheriff." 1 may be pardoned for a brief notice 
of this letter, as it is the first of the letters of this eminent 
man to Mr. Read found among his papers, and covering a 
period of more than forty years. 

It appears from the following letter wa-itten by Mr. Read, 
at Philadelphia, to his parents, June 27th, 1753, that he 
had tlien been admitted to the bar : 

" Honored Parents, — In- discoursing with Mr. Moland 
lately, 1 told him my intention [of] settling at New Castle, 
but he seemed to think it would be better staying here, and 

upon them]. If my papa has received any money upon the.?e notes, 
there will certainly he receipts to show such payments. 

"I dare say, as Mr. Read has always professed a friendship for our 
family, he will be pleased to hear how we go on in this troublesome 
world, l)Ut I will leave that to Mr. Dickinson, and have no doubt but he 
will tell you. And now give me leave to join with mamma in wishing 
you many very happy 3'ears. 

" E. Moland. 

"George Read, Esquire, January 29th, 1T62 " 

On the Ijack of this letter is written, "Miss Betsy Moland's letter, 
now Ladv St. Clair." 



OF GEORGE READ. 13 

attending as many of the courts in this Province, together 
with New Castle, as I might think convenient, and that he 
would assist me all that lay in his power, — he intending to 
decline Lancaster and New Castle. His Lancaster business 
he has resigned to me already, which will be of great service 
in introducing me to his clients and the people in general, 
and I suppose I shall attend the August court at Lancaster, 
and also at New Castle. His reasons for my not settling at 
New Castle were that the county was poor, and not able to 
support more of the fraternity than were in it already, and 
not fit for any person [to] live in, but I might by attending 
there make near as much as if settled ; and, by my going from- 
hence I should lose the acquaintance I had acquired, and 
get quite out of knowledge. That while I thought proper 
to stay in Philadelphia, I should be welcome to his table 
and my lodgings, as at present, but at the same time would 
not advise or persuade me to go or stay, but would leave me 
entirely at my own disposal, as he thought it difficult to tell 
what might be most for my advantage. I think, under the 
circumstances, it would be prudent to follow his advice, at 
least for awhile, to see how matters will answer, as it will 
undoubtedly be in his power to assist me both in this and 
the other counties in the Province. But you will be pleased 
to let me know your sentiments in this respect as soon as it 
shall be convenient, and you will very much oblige 
''Your loving and obedient son, 

"George ReId. 
"Mr. John Read, Christeen Bridge."^ J 

By then existing laws of Maryland and the " Three Lower 
Counties on Delaware" Mr. Read was entitled to a double 
portion of his father's property.* His first act after his ad- 
mission to the bar was to relinquish, by deed, all claim on , 



* This rig-ht to a douljle portion was anciently peculiar to the Jews. 
(2d Blackstone's Conunentaries, p. 214 ; Tucker's edition, chap, xiv., 
Of Title by Descent, Rule 3 ) In Deuteronomy, xxi. 17, it is declared 
to be the right of the first-born, and was his in the patriarchal age, to 
support his dignity as the ruler of his family, and, probably, its priest. 
It was the law in Delaware, as to personal estate, from 1683 to 1742, 
and as to real, from 1683. when it was, as far as appears, first enacted 
as to both, till January 29th, 1794, when it was repealed. Appendix, 
Delaware Laws, vol. i. p 16, etc., and Delaware Laws, vol. i. chap. cxix. 
a, p. 119. It was also, at the time of the Revolution, the law in New 



14 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 

his father's estate,* assigning as the reason for this reUn- 
quisliment that he had received his full portion in the ex- 
penses incurred by his education, and it would be a fraud 
upon his brothers not to renounce his legal right. 

In the year 1754']- he settled in New Castle, and com- 
menced the practice of the law, in the then three lower 
counties on Delaware, and the adjacent ones of Maryland. 
He found himself in the midst of powerful competitors, 
men of undoubted talents and able lawyers, among whom 
were John Ross, then Attorney-General.J Benjamin Chew, 
Joseph Galloway,§ George Ross,|l John Dickinson, and 
Thomas McKean. To have rapidly obtained full practice 
among such competitors is of itself sufficient praise.^ On 



England, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania. — Hildreth^s Hiatory of the 
United Statei>, vol. iii. p. 388. 

* Part of which was a farm of one hundred and eighty acres, with a 
spacious brick house, and barn, and other buildings and conveniences 
adjacent to Christiana Bridge, with a store-house and wharf used as a 
landing, from whence an extensive trade was long carried on with Phila- 
delphia and other places. John Read died in ITofi, aged sixty-eight 
years, and his wife, Mary Howel, September 22d. 1784, in the seventy- 
fourth year of her age. Both arc interred in the Presbyterian burying- 
ground of Christiana, and have substantial marble monuments over 
them. 

■}■ In an almanac for itSi, which I found among his papers, is this 
entry in his handwriting, " Came to New Castle 6th March, 1754." 

J See Appendix A. 

§ " Of Galloway's manner I have no personal knowledge. From 
inspection of the docket, his practice appears to have been extensive. 
He adhered to the royal cause, and migrated to England, where, after 
exciting considerable public attention b}^ his attacks on the conduct of 
Sir William Howe, in America, he remained till his death." — Bnide^s 
Recullectioiis of the Philadelphia Bar ; Watson^s Annals of Philadel- 
phia, pp. 207, 2(58. 

II " The talents of George Ross were much above mediocrity. His 
nanner was insinuating and persuasive, accompanied with' a species of 
pleasantry and habitual good humor. His knowledge of law was suffi- 
cient to obtain respect from the court, and his familiar manner secured 
the attention of the jury. But he was not industrious, and his career, 
after the commencement of the Revolution, was short." He was a 
signer of the Declaration of Jndependence. — Raiders Recollections ; 
]Valson^s Annals, p. 270. • 

^ " But in those times the sphere of the lawyer was somewhat limited. 
In the i)rovincial courts no great questions of international law were dis- 
cussed. There were no arguments upon the construction of treaties, 
and no comparison of legislative jiowers with constitutional restrictions. 
Even admiralty cases had little interest. Everything great and im- 



OF GEORGE READ. 15 

the 30th of April, 1763,* he succeeded John Ross as At- 
torney-General for the three lower counties on Delaware. 
He was the first Attorney-General expressly appointed for 
these counties, as before this period the Attorney-General 
of Pennsylvania was the prosecuting officer in Delaware. 
Mr. Eead held this office nntil soon after he was elected a 
delegate to the Congress of 1774, when, believing it incom- 
patible with the right discharge of the arduous duties of a 
representative in that august body that he should continue 
to be trammeled by an office held under his Britannic 
Majesty, he resigned it. 

. Mr. Read was particularly eminent as a deep-read lawyer, 
and he was versed in special pleading, the logic of the law. 
His elocution was neither flowery nor rapid, unlike that of 
one of his ancestors, who, as I have heard from my father, 
was styled "silver tongued McMuUin;" on the contrary, he 
was somewhat slow in his speech, and negligent in his 
manner ;f but his profound legal knowledge, his solidity of 
judgment, and his habit of close and clear reasoning, gave 
him an influence with juries and judges which the graces 
of the most finished oratory would have failed to gain for 
him. His conclusions were always founded upon calm and 
cautious deliberation, and seldom led him into error. His 
legal knowledge and judgment were so conspicuous that his 
opinions were in high and general estimation, and he had 
given such evidences of his integrity that he was called the 
" honest lawyer." 

There are a number of Mr. Read's "Almanacs" among 
his papers, in size very small, — about four inches by two. 
In that of 1779 I find noted several w'orks of science and 
literature, no doubt for purchase as he might have oppor- 
tunity, and the terms of membership of the Philadelphia 
Library Company, — from which I infer that his reading w^•^s 
not that of the mere lawyer. In the "Almanac" of 1758 

posing was reserved for the mother-couutry." — RaxvWs Recollections of 
the Pennsylvania Bar before the Revolution, p. 267. 

* In an almanac, found among bis papers, for 1769, is this memoran- 
dum : "At a levy court of Kent, held 14th November, 1168, George 
Read, as Attorney-General, was allowed for his past services £70, and 
for the ensuing year, £15." 

f Showing his picture to an aged neigh))or, he remarked, " I have 
often, when young, heard Mr. Read speak." " He was slow," said I. 
"Yes," answered he, "bat sure." 



16 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 

be notes a bet of Jobn Vaiigezel witb bim, ''tbat tbe Mand 
Battery is in possession of tbe Engbsb on Sunday, tbe 18th 
of tbat montli," and on tbe lltli of August, a bet witb 
Cbarles Gordon, "tbat we do not bear of tbe surrender of 
Cape Breton by tbis day week." Tbe Britisb army, under 
General Arnberst, effected a landing on tbe island of Cape' 
Breton June 8tb, and in a few days invested Louisbourg. 
A very severe fire was maintained against tbe besiegers 
from tbe town and from tbe battery at Ligbt-bouse Point, 
on tbe nortbeast side of tbe entrance of tbe barbor. On 
tbe morning of June 12tb, an bour before dawn. General 
Wolfe was detacbed witb two thousand men (liglit infantry 
and Highlanders) to seize tbat post, which be took by sur- 
prise, tbe enemy abandoning it on bis approach, and a number 
of smaller works were successfully carried. Several strong 
batteries were erected on this point, from which tbe ships 
in tbe harbor of Louisbourg were greatly annoyed. Louis- 
bourg capitulated July 27th:'-' so that Mr. Vangezel won, 
while I think it almost certain, as there were neither elec- 
tric telegraphs, nor railroads witb their locomotives, at tbat 
day, but intelligence was very slowly transmitted, Mr. Gor- 
don lost his bet. These entries in tbe "Almanac" carry 
us back almost a hundred years, and set us down in tbe 
groups of colonial quidnuncs, anxiously discussing tbe then 
engrossing topic, — tbe expedition against the French pos- 
session. Cape Breton, — -just as quidnuncs are disputing and 
betting now upon the invasion of tbe Crimea, and tbe siege 
of Sebastopol; and a bundred years hence, I am afraid, 
they will not be without a similar subject of speculation.f 
Mr. Dickinson writes to him as follows from 

"Philadelphia, October 1st, 1102. 
"Dear Sir, — 1 took tbe liberty, a few days ago, to make 
you a troublesome request to try a cause between Williams 
and Humphries, Huested and Boles, and another between 

* Smollett's History of England, vol. ii. pp. 38t, 388, 389; Holmes's 
Annals, vol. ii. pp. 80, 81 ; Bancroft's History of the United States, vol. 
iv. p. 297. 

I 'I'hat Mr. Kead partook of the martial .spirit at tbis time porvadinc; 
many, if not all, of the North American Colonics, I infer from finding bis 
name in tbe roll of the militia company snl)j()ined to tbis chapter, A})- 
pendix B. When the above paragraph was written the war in the 
Crimea was in progress. 



OF GEORGE READ. 17 

Dennis and Campbell, at your adjourned court, as I shall 
be prevented from attending by several causes of conse- 
quence in our Supreme Court, to be tried at that time. My 
letter, with a short state of each case, I presume you have 
received, and hope you will be so kind as to f\ivour me with 
an answer. 

"Another request I have to make to you is that you will, 
if you approve of it, propose the inclosed law"' to the Assem- 
bly, at the next session, as useful and necessary to be passed. 
"It is almost an exact copy of the Pennsylvania law to 
this purpose, and I wonder how it has been so long neglected. 
My reason for desiring this law to pass is that I know it will 
contribute to the advancement of justice, particularly in one 
instance, and I believe every Colony besides yours has made 
provision in such cases. 

"I assure you, upon my honor, that I have not the least 
interest in promoting such a bill. But I know some persons 
would industriously oppose it if they could find out that my 
head or hand or even my little finger had been employed in 
framing it. 

"I am imagine modicum manet alta in mente repositum. 
"I shall, therefore, be greatly obliged to you if you will 
be so good as to entirely suppress my name. 

"You can introduce the matter very well by mentioning 
the propriety of such a law to our worthy friend, Mr. Van- 
bebber, who, as a judge, may, with great consistence of 
character, desire leave to bring in such a bill; so might Mr. 
Rice. 1 don't know which has most influence in the House. 
"You may congratulate me on my salvation, for I am, 
certainly, among the elect, and may enter into the Assembly 
of righteous men. 

"My pleasure is that this happens without opposition, or 
the discontent of those I esteem, which I regard as a great 
happiness. Mr. S. W made a candid, manly declara- 
tion of his reasons for opposing me last year, which were 
the same you once mentioned to me, and I think sufficient. 
It would have given me great pain to have been the occasion 

of uneasiness to a man I so much respect as I do Mr. B . 

But now I flatter myself with coming in with the general 
approbation of good men. 

* What this law was docs not appear, the draught inclosed in this 
letter not beins: with it. 



18 LIFE AND COBRESPONDENCE 

"We have received a disagreeable piece of news by the 
wa_y of New York, that the Emperor of Russia is dethroned, 
and, what is still more extraordinary, that imperial author- 
ity is conferred on his consort. 

"We expect particulars every moment. If this is true, 
who, in his senses, would take those great blessings — an 
empress and a wife together ? Is it not better to receive a 
subsidy from an honest farmer to recover his wheat-field 
from some usurping neighbor, and march gallantly at the 
head of four-and-twenty jurymen to attack him in the re- 
doubts of his forcible detainer, than to make half Europe 
turn pale with letting loose thirty thousand Russians to 
secure Silesia to the King of Prussia? 

"I confess I should like to make an immense bustle in the 
world, if it could be made by virtuous actions. But, as there 
is no probability of that, I am content if I can live innocent 
and beloved by those I love, in the first class of whom you 
are always esteemed by, dear sir, your most affectionate 
friend and very humble servant, 

"John Dickinson. 

"Please to have the law copied over, lest my clerk's hand 
should be known." 

Mr. Dickinson's desire of distinction, so playfully ex- 
pressed, honorable and generous because to be won by vir- 
tuous actions, was to be gratified sooner than he probably 
anticipated. His election, announced in the foregoing letter, 
introduced him into the political arena under highly favor- 
able circumstances. Having devoted to severe study those 
years which too many waste in dissipation, he showed him- 
self, at his first entrance on public life, possessed of a knowl- 
edge of the laws and constitution of his country which 
seldom falls to the share of gray hairs, and had the great 
advantage of independence of spirit and fortune.''' His 
first laurels were won by his speechf against the proposed 



* Preface to the Speech, pp. 5 and G, by Provost Smith, of the Uni- 
versity of Pennsylvania. 

f Joseph Galloway replied to this speech, and both were published, 
Galloway's, with a preface by Franklin, and Dickinson's, with a preface 
by Provost Smith, and it is stated by Rawle (" Recollections of the 
Penn.<ylvania Bar," p. 167) as remarkable, that the prefaces were more 
admired than the speeches. I have them in pamphlets, published in 



OF GEORGE READ. 19 

change of the government of Pennsylvania from proprie- 
tary to royal, provoked by the selfish attempts of the pro- 
prietaries, through their governors, to exempt their lands 
from a fair share of taxes necessary for the common defence 
of the Province. His speech was well argued, in a style 
clear, forcible, and rhetorical, and was well received, es- 
pecially as he stood forth the champion of the Penns, un- 
trammeled by previous connection with them or their 



Philadelphia in 1764, before me. The Provost and Dickinson write lil^e 
men who have been formed in the study, among books, Franklin like one 
whose mind has been developed and furnished in the turmoil of busy 
life. The former are more polished and ornate in style, illustrated by 
historical exanrjiles and adorned with classical quotations, while Frank- 
lin discusses his subject just as no doubt he talked it over with his neig-h- 
bors, upon chance-meetings in the street, the market, or the coffee-house. 
He quotes from neither historians nor poets, except two lines from Pope, 
but from the Bible and primer; from the latter a couplet of the verses 
under the picture of John Rogers, amidst upcurling flames, his wife 
and nine children near, which has drawn tears from many an infant eye. 
It is written in a masterly manner, with great terseness, simplicity, and 
caustic wit. While his hits at the sons of the great Proprietary are 
hard and unsparing, at every open point, he treats Mr. Dickinson with 
great respect, refraining from any attack upon him. I may be pardoned 
for one sample of this i)reface. The Provost constructs very ingeniously 
a paragraph highly laudatory of William Penn and his charter, with 
extracts from addresses of the House of Assembly of Pennsylvania to 
his sons ; Franklin, from votes of the same Assembly, writes an epitaph 
for a monument to them as depreciatory. Ho represents the Assembly, 
when addressing the sons, as ever lauding their father, because there 
was nothing praiseworthy in them, and slyly adds, "till they were dis- 
gusted, and exclaimed, ' We have too much of our father !' " It seems to 
me, however, that Smith and Dickinson have the advantage in the main 
argument, showing, as they do very clearly, the inexpediency and folly 
of relinquishing the existing charter, inasmuch as, from the temper of 
the British Parliament to the Colonies, so far from its being likely that 
new privileges would be conferred, it was unlikely that those enjoyed 
would be retained. Besides the preface to Galloway's speech, there is 
prefixed to it an " Address," evidently from the pen of a mere partisan. 
Its charges against Mr. Dickinson betray petty malignity. " He at- 
tempted to deliver his sentiments on the petition for the change of gov- 
ernment from proprietary to royal oretenus, but, making no impression, 
retreated to his written speech, which he read in a manner not the most 
deliberate," insinuating a want of self-possession, "and, after solemnly 
promising to leave his speech with Mr. Galloway, declining to do so, 
and not leaving it on the table of the Assembly for examination till the 
petition was put on the third reading." From Mr. Dickinson's charac- 
ter I have no doubt that, while the first charge may be true, the second 
was either a downright falsehood or originated from mistake. 



20 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 

governors. His pamphlet against the " Regulations respect- 
ing the British Colonies," and the bold resolutions of the 
Congress of 1765, from his pen, gave him a continental 
reputation, and the publication of his "Farmers' Letters" in 
London and Paris, with a preface bj Fraid<:lin, soon enlarged 
it to one in a measure European.* 

In the 3^ear 1763f Mr. Read married the daughter of the 
Reverend George Ross,J for almost fifty years rector of Im- 
nianuel Church, New Castle, Delaware. It was one of his 
favorite maxims that men ambitious of arriving at the acme 
of their professions should never marry; but his good sense 
taught him that the sacrifice of domestic enjoyment would 
be hiadequately compensated by the highest honors. The 
understanding of Mrs. Read, naturally strong, was carefully 
cultivated by her father, who bestowed more attention upon 
her instruction than it was the common lot of females at 
that period to receive. Such is the advance in the educa- 
tion of the women of our country that her letters, a few 
of which I have, in the points of orthograph}^ and penman- 
ship would suffer on comparison with those of the present 
day. Her person was beautiful, her manners elegant, and 
her piety exemplary. During our Revolutionary struggle 
her trials were many and severe. The enemy, constantly 
on the maritime borders of Delaware, kept the State in 
perpetual alarm by predatory incursions. The British army 
at different periods occupied parts of her territory or marched 
through it. Frequent change of habitation was not one of 
the least evils which accompanied the w%ar of the Revolu- 
tion. Mrs, Read was almost constantly separated from her 
husband while he was engaged in the public service. She 
was often compelled to fly from her abode, at a moment's 
warning, with a large and infant family. But she never 
desponded. Instead of adding to the heavy burden of a 
statesman's cares by her complaints, she animated his forti- 
tude by her firmness. § 

* For a notice of John Dickinson, see post, Appendix C. 

f Reg-i.ster of Marriages of Ininianuel Church, New Castle, Delaware. 

j For a notice of the Rev. George Ross, see Appendix D. 

§ She survived Mr. Reed four years, dying in 1802 in the mansion 
they had long occupied, which was destroyed by fire in 1824, with 
almost the whole of the most compactly-built and commercial part 
of New Castle. 



OF GEORGE READ. 21 

The following congratulatory letter was written by Mr. 
Dickinson to Mr. Read on the happy occasion of his inar- 
liage : 

"With the warmest wishes, my dear sir, for j'our happi- 
ness and Mrs. Read's, I congratulate you on the very valuable 
acquisition each of you has lately made. May Providence 
be pleased to bestow upon you all the blessings of which life 
is capable; and may life, as it wears away, be spent in such 
a manner as to prove a sure source of future felicity. No 
man will see your happiness with greater joy than I shall, 
because it will always be a great addition to my own, unless 
one thing happens of which I am a little apprehensive. I 
mean that your affections will be drawn into so small a circle 
that you will forget to love your friends. Pray don't give 
me any reason to think this. If you do, I will revenge 
myself upon you (if you are not too happy to think that any 
revenge) by taking a wife, and ceasing to be, if my heart 
will permit it, Mrs. Read's and your very affectionate, 
humble servant, 

"John Dickinson. 

"January 23d, 1763." 

Mr. Read enjoyed the felicity his friend so fervently de- 
sired for him and his amiable partner, but the contest which 
(in 1765) commenced between Great Britain and the Colo- 
nies soon interrupted his domestic enjoyments. As Mr. 
Read held an office under the British government, and pos- 
sessed great and acknowledged influence, his adherence to the 
English ministers would, no doubt, have insured him a 
share in the preferments and pecuniary rewards lavishly 
bestowed on those who supported the schemes of oppression 
which they had planned ; but his patriotism and integrity 
induced him to take a decided part with those who opposed 
the aggressions of the Parliament as soon as the dispute 
between the Colonies and the. mother-country commenced. 
It was not vanity, but a proper estimate of his own abilities, 
and the knowledge that they were duly appreciated by his 
fellow-citizens, which assured him that he would be called 
upon to act an important part in a momentous drama as 
soon as he declared himself. He well knew that the post 
of leader, whether civil or military, was at once the post of 
danger and the place of honor. Success was problematical, 



22 LIFE AND COBRESPONDENCE 

and lie could not doubt that the British ministers, em- 
bittered by opposition and flushed by victory, would single 
out as victims those who had been most active and influen- 
tial in resisting their designs. Clemency was little to be 
expected where vengeance could be inflicted under the 
guise of just punishment. But neither interest nor fear 
could divert him from taking the cour.se he believed to 
be right, and once taken, inflexible in fliith, he never 
swerved from it. 

In October, 17G5, he took his seat in the General Assem- 
bly of Delaware as one of the representatives from New 
Castle County, which station he continued to occupy for the 
twelve next ensuing years.''' Mr. Read was a member of 
the committees who reported the addresses made to George 
III. by the Delaware Legislature on behalf of their constit- 
uents, and which merit the encomiums so deservedly be- 
stowed on our Revolutionary state-papers. In a letter of 
September 23d, 1766, to Mr. Read, chairman of the Com- 
mittee of Correspondence of that bodj^, Dennis de Berdt, 
agent of the three lower counties, in London, acknowledges 
the receipt of an address, which was " very graciously re- 
ceived," and adds, "I told Lord Shelburn that it appeared 
written with the most natural [and] honest simplicity of 
any I had seen. He said 'it did;' and '[thnt] the king was 
so well pleased with it that he read it over twice.'" This 
was an address of thanks to George III. for the repeal of 
the stamp-act. . 

It appears from tiie following correspondence that Mr. 
Read was an applicant for the office of collector for the port 
of New Castle, Delaware. In answer to a letter to him, a 
copy of which is not preserved, Mr. Wharton writes as 
follows from 

"Philadelphia, April 14th, 1706, Monda\'. 

"Dear Friend, — I have received yours, and immediately 
waited upon Governor Franklin, and showed it to him. 

"He is fearful that the office is engaged. But assures me 
he will write to his father, in the strongest terms, in favor 
of you, and therefore desires that you will immediately 
write him a letter, and request his application to the Lords 

* See 2^ost. 



OF GEORGE READ. 23 

of the Treasury in your behalf. Which letter inclose to 
me by the bearer, 

"The packet is momentarily expected. But a ship went 
down last night for New Castle, in England, wherefore, by 
all means, get a letter also on board of her to Dr. Franklin. 
Pray by no means neglect this, as he will [thus] have the 
earlier intelligence of your application. 

" I have hired the bearer to carry this, as I cannot find 
another opportunity, 

"As soon as I receive your letter, be assured that I will, 
with the greatest pleasure, press it with Dr. Franklin, as it 
will always afford me the greatest joy to minister to the 
happiness of my dearest friend. 

" Pray remember Mrs. W to Mrs. R , and believe 

me to be, in the greatest haste, dear George, 

"Yours affectionately, 

"S. Wharton. 

"Excuse this blundering epistle." 

"New Castle, April 14th, 1TG6. 

"Sir, — From your known goodness, and the knowledge 
you have of me and my family, I have presumed to beg the 
favor of you to apply to the Lords Commissioners of the 
Treasury on my behalf, for the appointment of Collector of 
the Port of New Castle, rmide vacant by the death of Mr. si^'"^ 
William Till yesterday morning. My pretensions to this 
post are solely founded on your good offices in my favor, 
for which I sliall have no other return to make than a 
gratefid remembrance of the service done me, and this, I am 
well assured, will be satisfactory to your generous mind. 
Should this appointment be obtained for me, I am persuaded 
1 can give very satisfactory security for the due execution 
of the office in the city of Philadelphia. Among others, I 
can venture to name Mr. Rees Meredith and Captain John 
Mease, whose very independent fortunes, I do suppose, you 
are well assured of 

"Good sir, pardon the freedom I have taken to address 
you on this occasion, and you will much oblige your most 
obedient, humble servant, 

"George Read. 

" To Dr. Franklin." 



^ 



24 LJFE AND COBRESPOXDENCE 

"London, June 12th, 1766. 

"Dear Sir, — T received your letter of April 14tli, and 
immediately made an application in your favor It will be 
a pleasure to me if it succeeds. But the Treasury have so 
many to provide for that we must not be surprised if we 
are disappointed. My regards to your good mother, and 
believe me, with sincere regard, your assured friend and 
most humble servant, 

"B. Franklin. 

"George Read, Esquire." 

To this letter Mr. Read replied as follows: 

"Sir, — I now return you my most sincere thanks for the 
immediate application you were so good as to make at the 
Treasury on my behalf, as I am informed by your letter of 
the 12th of June, and should the event be otherwise than 
successful, to me it will not prove a matter of much disap- 
pointment. I am but little troubled with thiit passion for 
offices so generally prevalent. This is the first I ever 
sought after, the execution of which, answering my situa- 
tion, tempted me to rely on your well-known disposition to 
assist those you may think worthy. My mother desires 
her best compliments may be made to you for your kind 
remembrance of her, and 1 am your much obliged and most 
obedient, humble servant, 

"George Read. 

"Doctor Franklin." 

This application was unsuccessful. This office could not 
have been refused because Mr. Read opposed the stamp-act, 
for Thomas McKean, conspicuous for his opposition to that 
act in the Legislature of Delaware, and in the Congress of 
1765, and on all occasions an ardent and active Whig, was 
appointed (a.d. 1771) collector of the port of New Castle.* 
Tiie cause of this disappointment appears from the letter 
next inserted. 

"Philadelphia, November 14th, 1Y66. 

"Dear Friend, — I have not had leisure until this minute 
to acknowledge the receipt of your favor of the 7th inst. 



* " Biography of the Signers of the Declaration of Independence," 
vol. iv. p. lU. 



OF GEOEGE BEAD. 25 

"You may readily judge how I was chagrined when I 
found you had lost the office. Dr. Franklin writes that 
^ he had an absolute promise of it for you from the Mar- 
quis of Rockingham; but when he was in Germany there 
was an unfortunate change in the ministry, and Alderman 
Trecothick applied to the Duke of Grafton, and obtained it 
for Mr. Walker.' 

"The excursion to Germany has restored Dr. Franklin's 
health, but it occasioned your loss of what your friends ar- 
dently hoped you would have obtained. I know j^ou have 
philosophy enough to bear the disappointment with temper. 
It is only, if I may be allowed the liberty to say this, a lo.ss 
of what never existed, and not like the real rubs of the poor 
unfortunate merchant. 

"I have no news to send yon, except that Dr. Franklin 
is in high spirits with respect to the change, and says the 
ministry are favorable to America. 

"If he does not succeed next year I shall lose nil hopes; 
but it must be recollected that many unexpected and un- 
toward incidents have occurred — two removes in the min- 
istry, the national alarm about the stamp-act, etc. 

"Adieu. I am, in much haste, 

"Your faithful, affectionate friend, 

"S. Wharton. 

"George Read, Esquire." 

The letters and part of a letter next inserted are interest- 
ins:, — those of Mr. Neave as indicatino; the feelinsjs and 
opinions of a London merchant in regard to George Gren- 
ville's scheme for taxing the British colonies in America, 
and the o^Dinion of Mr. Read as to the internal taxation for 
revenue of these colonies by the British Parliament, by the 
stamp-act or any other mode. 

"London, March 24th, 1764. 

"Dear Sir, — I wrote you a few lines the beginning of the 
month by the 'Dragon' to cover the bill of lading for the 
silk, etc., which I hope may reach you safe. 

"I do not remember whether I acknowledged the receipt 
of yours by Tillett. If I did not, I very sincerely thank 
you for your very kind and friendly congratulation on my 
Safe arrival. I presume you will have heard ere this reaches 
you how near we were of being all lost, twice after making 

3 



26 LIFE AND COBRESPONDENCE 

the land, [and] that it was the greatest miracle we were 
saved, when we did not expect it, — once between the island 
of Guernsey and Jersey; a second time between Dover and 
Calais, when we expected to be cast on the French shore 
presently, and both times in the night. The last was a 
violent gale of wind, that did incredible damage all over 
England. 

" It gave me sensible pleasure to find that I was yet in 
your remembrance, and the more so to see that you had 
taken the first opportunity to convince me of it. Poor 
Tillett, who had the misfortune to lose the 'Britannia,' on 
the coast of France, on the 29th of January last, brought 
me your letter with others that were for our house. I 
tremble to think of the danger we escaped. I suppose Ave 
were not ten miles from the rocks where the "Britannia" 
was, in ten minutes after her boat and crew were safe on 
shore, beat to pieces. 

"I was much shocked to hear of the death of poor Smith, 
— a sudden transition, indeed. God send that we may ever 
live [so] as to be always ready when his good providence 
shall please to call us. But enough, you will say, of this 
melancholy subject, wherefore I v^'ill proceed to acquaint 
3'ou with one that is very interesting indeed to the North 
Americans. You are no doubt well acquainted with the 
enormous debt this kingdom is loaded with by means of the 
last war. The Committee of Ways and Means for raising 
a fund for the supply of this year, and paying the interest 
of the national debt, have fallen upon a scheme to tax 
North America and the Islands. They have framed an 
act consisting of nineteen articles, some of which lay a 
heavy duty per ton on all wines except French, and on 
foreign sugar, coffee, molasses, etc. To be brief, every ar- 
ticle has passed the House except the 18th, by which it was 
proposed to take olf the drawback which is now allowed 
on foreign linens and calicoes exported. This, if it had 
been effected, would have been a mortal wound to the trade 
of this country. Immediately on hearing that such a scheme 
was on foot the merchants and traders had a meeting, when 
the}^ came to aresolution of waiting on Mr. Grenville, Chan- 
cellor of the Exchequer, to endeavor to apprise him of what 
would be the consequence should this act pass as it stood. 
All the satisfaction they could get was, that if they would 



OF GEORGE BEAD. 27 

not Oppose any of the other duties passing they should have 
a fair discussion of the Litter. Yesterday it came on, and 
after examining several witnesses, particularly Gibson and 
Clayton, of Philadelphia, they contented themselves with 
retaining a small part of the drawback, usually allowed on 
calicoes. If I can get a copy of the votes in time I will 
enclose you one. How you Americans will relish the new 
taxes I don't know, but I am satisfied there are a Gjreat 
number can afford to pay them as well as we can. Only 
consider, there is hardly a thing we eat, drink, or wear that 
is not taxed! If the above article had passed it would have 
been a heavy burthen on the poor among you, because it 
would fall heavy on the low goods. 

"I have shipped on board of the ship 'Friendship,' for 
Philadelphia, a trunk containing the books agreeably to the 
list you sent me, which I hope may arrive safe and prove 
agreeable. Enclosed you have the bill of lading and in- 
voice, amounting to , which I have charged to your 
account. Whenever you have occasion to send to London 
for anything, I beg you will freely send to me, as I shall 
always take pleasure in executing your commissions. 

"My good friend. S. Wharton, acquainted me with your 
being 'regenerated' in a son and heir, and that Mrs. Kead 
was very well. 

"I am joined by my father and mother in our best com- 
pliments to you and your lady, and lam, with great esteem, 
dear sir, very much yours, 

"Richard Neave, Jr. 

"P.S. — I had a letter lately from Captain Tom j I suppose 
he is on his voyage home. 
"George Read, Esquire." 

"London, July 11th, 1765. 

"Dear Sir, — As I think the old proverb 'of it's being 
better late than never to mend' a very good one, I am con- 
strained to make use of it on this occasion in some measure 
to apologize for my so long neglecting your very esteemed 
favor of the 25th of June, 1764, wherein you acknowledged 
the arrival of the goods sent you. It gave me great pleasure 
to hear that Mrs. Read approved of the silks, because the 
choice depends so much on foncy that I was doubtful of 
pleasing. 



28 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 

'' I was sorry to hear of the complaint of the second-hand 
books, and am much obHged by the information of the 
bookseller's base conduct in packing them up so faultily. 
If you will be at the trouble of returning them by any ship 
we have a concern in, you may depend we will make 
him change them for better. I am extremely obliged by 
your kind congratulation. The danger I escaped was, no 
doubt, enough to make me afraid of trusting myself so far 
on the water ; but I own that a good errand would get the 
better of my fear, but my mother would not easily consent. 
I like America, and could with a great deal of satisfaction 
reside there. 

"You judged right about the severity of the winter that 
was approaching, for by all accounts from thence you had 
it extremely severe. 1 am sorry to say your lively picture 
of the distress the farmers and tradesmen were likely to be 
reduced to ^vas a true one. We merchants find the ill 
effects already of the conduct of the late weak ministry. 
They are, thank God, removed from all power within these 
four days. You will see by the papers what a difficulty 
there has been to get this great affair accomplished. Many 
are of opinion that the riot of the silk-weavers, in Spital- 
fields, opened the eyes of his Majesty and council so as to 
make them think seriously of a cliange. The late ministry 
have not only burthened the colonies with many heavy 
taxes and impositions, but have laid more duties on us here, 
and new regulations as to doing business in the public 
offices, than ever before were known, since I can remember, 
in so short a time. All our manufiictories experience the 
ill effects of the late severe regulations against the Ameri- 
cans, for trade has not been at so low an ebb this many 
years. In short, there is scarcely a person to be met with 
but complains, more or less, of the badness of the times, 
and the number of poor wretches that are starving in 
the country for want of employ. A disagreeable situation 
this, when all kinds of provision continues extremely 
dear. 

'•Your brother Tom is once more sailed in the Tartar. 
He left us a month past for Cork, where he arrived ; and 
sailed, the 2d instant, for Newfoundland, where we design 
him to load for Lisbon. lie will proceed from thence to 
Port Royal, in South Carolina, to load for London or Lisbon, 



OF GEORGE READ. 29 

Av'.iichever may suit the ship best. His further destination 
I cannot at present acquaint you with. 

"I am joined by my father and mother in best compli- 
ments to yourself and Mrs. Read. I am greatly obliged by 
your kind remembrance. 

"Pray favor me with a line frequently, and do not take 
example from my negligence, for it will always give me 
pleasure to hear of your welfare, being with great esteem 
and regard, dear sir, your sincere friend and humble servant, 

"Richard Neave, Junior. 

"Will you present my best compliments to our friend 
Samuel Wharton and to Mrs. Wharton, and tell them they 
are not forgotten by me, for we seldom miss an oppor- 
tunity of drinking the health of our particular friends in 
America. 

"George Read, Esquire." 

With the letter of Mr. Neave of July, 1765, I find part 
of the rough draft of Mr. Read's reply to it, as follows: 

" Dear Sir, — The scene in America has greatly changed 
since you left us. Then political disputes were confined to 
parties formed in the respective colonies. They are now 
all resolved into one, and that with the mother-country. 
The. stamp-act you made on your side of the water hath 
raised such a ferment among us — that is, -among one and 
all of the colonies on the continent — that I know not when 
it will subside. Before you will receive this I doubt not 
but you will see in our public papers the opposition gener- 
ally made to the distribution of the stamp-papers, and to 
these publications I shall refer you for particulars. How 
the disturbances raised here will be received in England, I 
know not. I sincerely wish the furious zeal of the populace 
may not be resented by your people in power [so] as to 
prevent them from lending a candid ear to our just com- 
plaints, and repealing a law so destructive to the liberty of 
the subject in America, and which, in time, will prove det- 
rimental to the trade of the mother-country. As to this I 
shall explain myself to be understood, viz., if this law 
should stand unrepealed, or, indeed, any other enactment 
in lieu thereof imposing an internal tax for the purpose of 
revenue, the colonists will entertain an opinion that they 



30 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 

are to become the slaves of Great Britain by the Parlia- 
ment's making laws to deprive them of their property with- 
out their assent, by any kind of representation. This will 
naturally lead them into measures to live as independent 
of Great Britain as possible, [and] they will, gradually, go 
into the making of woollens and ironmongery, your two 
great branches of manufactory; and, although from the high 
prices of labor in general among us they will be greatly 
impeded in the first attempts, yet the necessity of persever- 
ing will surmount and possibly remove that difficulty. The 
spirit hath seized them already, and prevails surprisingly. 
Home-spun cloth is worn as well by the beaux as the men 
of gravity of all ranks, and though only fashion with the 
first, it will soon grow into habit, which, when once fixed, 
will not be readily changed. From this consideration alone 
every friend to the mother-country and the colonies ought 
to wish and to afford a helping hand to obtain an altera- 
tion in the late system of politics in England." 

Mr. Wharton writes to him as follows from 

"Philadelphia, August 2cl, 1766. 

"My dear Friend, — It was with the sincerest pleasure 
I received yours of the 1st instant, as I impatiently longed 
to know how you, Mrs. Read, and the little one were. 

"I have had a long and tiresome excursion, but I never- 
enjoyed more real health. Now and then, indeed, I was 
obliged to trespass [against] the laws of sobriety, and drink 
a cheerful potation with the military gentlemen whom I 
could not deny, as I daily received the highest marks of 
their kindness and hospitality. 

"The situation and country of Fort Pitt are beautiful and 
rich. I verily believe there is not finer land in the w^orld. 
The banks of the Alleghany and Monongahela must, in 
time, be a great vineyard, as the adjacent territory is filled 
with remarkably fine vines, much larger and more spread- 
ing than any on this side the great mountains. But I con- 
trol my pen with respect to the nature of ray journey, the 
peculiarity of the soil, and the importance of the Indian 
negotiations, as. I assure you, I never w^as so engaged in 
hurrj^ing business as at present. 

"I have the pleasure of telling you our peltries are safe- 
arrived at the Illinois, and we have no one to interfere with 



OF GEORGE READ. 31 

lis or our traffic. On the whole, our affairs to the westward 
are in a blooming way. At one store, at Fort Pitt, in eight 
months, out of a cargo of only £2500, w^e have, bona fide., 
cleared at least £3000; nay, received the peltries, which are 
better than cash. I mention it [because] I know it will be 
joyous to you. 

"I am pained to hear that your little boy is so afflicted, 
I ardently hope that he will shortly recover, to the ineffable 
pleasure of his parents, who, with unutterable solicitude, 
watch over his tender constitution. This is certainly a 
most proving world we breathe in. Scarce a day opens but 
it brings with it some new subject of painful sighs. Cer- 
tainly the great and good Author of our creation intends 
them as so many checks to terrestrial happiness, and to in- 
cite us to rely upon a more enduring inheritance in the 
realms above. What incites my pen to this meditative 
strain is the melancholy scene I have just returned from 
mixing in. My brother Thomas has two fine children, one 
six years old, the other about nine months, now breathless. 
They fell victims to the rage of an excruciating flux. One 
of them was the teeming prospect of great joy to them. 

"I much fear that your attention to your meadows will 
be an injury to your health, as I am persuaded the exhala- 
tions of such grounds are not friendly to the most athletic 
constitutions, — of consequence not to yours. Since Provi- 
dence, therefore, has been pleased to form you of delicate 
and tender materials, why will you endanger them hy an 
anxious pursuit after the things of this world ? Where is 
all the boasted acquiescence to the practice of your profes- 
sion? I fear, dear friend, it is almost forgot, and that you 
are become so infatuated with the prospect of meadoios, etc., 
that you seldom now thumb my Lord Coke. I expect soon 
to see published the lucubrations of George Read, Esquire, 
on the manner of draining cripple-land, feeding horn-cattle, 
etc. Pray let me early bespeak one of them for your brother 
Galloway.* 

* This meadow is part of a farm called "Stonum," which runs up 
nearly to the southwestern boundary of New Castle. This marsh fronts 
on the Delaware, there nearly three miles wide, and expanding into a 
reach below it, and is much exposed to storms from the northeast, but 
especially to those from the southeast. The embankment of this marsh 
was twice broken and repaired, at great expense, by Mr. Read while he 



32 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 

"As to public affairs, your brother has wrote to yoii prop- 
erly. Dr. Franklin says, positively, that the Proprietary 
letter contained a shameful falsehood in saying 'that the 
petition was dismissed for ever and ever.' It was, to adopt 
his own words, 'no more than a mere postponing until the 
general affairs of America were out of hand; it now lies 
ready to be taken up, and we shall shortly proceed upon it.' 
How ashamed ought the Proprietary partisans [to] be at 
their repeated, nay daily, lies. They certainly tend to 
lessen their credit with men of truth and candor. How 
confidently did the giant assert, even last session, in our 
House that Mr. Franklin was the chief promoter of the 
stamp act (for which, be assured, he will meet with [what] 
his demerits [deserve] at the next session), and that he 
could prove it. We have letters from persons of the first 
character in England breathing the utmost thanks for the 
unwearied pains he took in laying the true state of America 
before the Ministry and Parliament, and yet no faith is to 
be given to his services. But since the arrival of his most 
sensible, firm, and patriotic answers to the Parliamentary 
examination, 1 will give the base calumniator and his ven- 
omous faction so much reputation as to say, they are dumb, 
and have the characters of conscious guilt strongl}^ ex- 
pressed in their countenances. I cannot possibly send you 
the 'examination.' There is only one copy in town. But 
I give you a small extract from it, by which you may judge 
of its importance.* 

"There are 173 questions, all answered with the same 
judgment, spirit, and independency. At Chester you will 
see the whole of them. In the mean time these [I send 

held it, and lie erected, besides, a substantial barn on " Stonuni," and 
made other improvements. After the second breach of his embankment 
(in 1789), he sold " Stonnm," and counselled his sons never to buy 
marsh. If he did not suffer in health from his meadow, as Mr. Whar- 
ton feared, he certainly did in purse. Twenty thousand dollars has 
lately been paid for " Stonum," its embankment being now much pro- 
tected by accumulations of sand, and marsh is less valuable than when 
Mr. Read owned this farm, in consequence of upland having been made 
available for grazing by the introduction of clover. 

In a letter to his brother, Colonel Read, dated 8th of April, 1769, he 
writes: "Every moment I have to spare from my office I spend among 
some people at my marsh, which may now be properly called my 
hobby-horse, that I every now and then ride at a great rate." 

* Here follows the extract. 



OF GEORGE READ. 33 

you] will gratify you a little, and enhance your thirst after • 
the others. You are at liberty to read these [to whom you 
please], but neither give a copy nor mention how you got 
them, as possibly I may be blamed. 

"My Sally continues very weak, although she is much 
better than she usually is after lying in, but the weather is 
dreadful for all weakly persons. Remember me particuhirly 
to Mr. Williams. I wish his son was now fit to come into 
our counting-house. But he may rely upon our keeping a 
vacancy for him. My compliments to my old friend Van 
Gezel. Is lie in love now? Adieu, my dear friend. I 
anxiously pant to spend a few hours tete-a-tete with you. 
Our affectionate regards to Mrs. Read. 

"I am yours, truly, 

"S. Wharton. 

"Poor Galloway has been very ill, but he is recovered. 
There are no hopes of Peggy Ross, but the poor Counsellor 
(who supped with me last night) still flatters himself — 

'Hope springs, eternal, in the human breast.'" 

Lawyers were evil spoken of in 1767 as they are at 
present. I have a pamphlet before me, published in that 
year, on the eve of an election of Assemblymen in the three 
lower counties. It is in /o/io, and anonymous. It treats 
of topics of local and temporary interest, is poorly written, 
and has this pithy motto, — 

"Lawsuits I'd shun with as much studious care 
As hungry deus, where greedy lions are." — Pomfret. 

Will the following passage of family history be thought 
irrelevant, or trivial, or of too delicate a character to be 
brought to light? Some of my readers may so regard it; 
but it seems to me illustrative of my grandfather's charac- 
ter, and can offend or harm no one living. 

He writes to his brother James, SOth March, 1769 : 
"When I was at Christeen on Saturday, mother told me 
Gunning Bedford had applied for her consent to marry our 
sister Polly. As she had not heard of this before, nor [had] 
any suspicion of its being in agitation, and but little ac- 
quaintance with Bedford, she gave him an absolute denial. 

She asked my opinion. I gave it in favor of Bedford, if his 

-i 






34 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 

■ father would make over tlie plantation he lived on to him, 
and I am apt to believe our mother may be induced to per- 
mit the match if this is done. I yesterday had Bedford to 
dine with me, intending to open the matter to him, but he 
went awn^^ before the opportunity offered. I understand 
he is going to Philadelphia, and will, perhaps, open his mind 
to you ; and if he should, let him know that it is for his own 
interest that the father should give him the land." Mr. 
Read writes to his brother James, 15th April, 1769: "I 
was very desirous to have your sentiments about Bedford's 
pretensions to our sister Polly, and do agree with you in 
your opinion of the man, but know not well what to con- 
clude. He has never mentioned the subject to me, though 
I have given him some opportunities so to do. I have in- 
vited him several times to my table, when Polly was with 
me, and I have been unwilling to mention the matter to him, 
in the first instance, lest such a step might be deemed an 
over-lbndness for the connection, and prove a disservice to 
Polly. I should be glad you would sound old Mr. Bedford 
on the subject of making over to his son the plantation on 
which he lives, as I am determined to open the whole matter 
to the son the next opportunity I have. It would give me 
great satisfaction to have her well settled in life, and it is 
incumbent upon us all to contribute what may be in our 
power to accomplish this, and I think she is arrived to such 
an age that the sooner the better, if done with prudence. 
As to certainty, there is no such thing in matrimony, for, 
after the best caution, there is some risk which all are to 
run that engage in it." He again writes to James Read, 
22d April, 17G9 : '-G. Bedford was with me yesterday, and 
mentioned my sister's affair and his to me. I then told him 
I did not disapprove of the match, but my mother did, but 
believed she would get over all her objections if his father 
would secure the plantation he lived on to him. He could 
not say how this would be, but expected he would, and that 
he would be down next week. But mother to-day is more 
outrageous than ever. I intended to say more [to her than 
I did], but we soon got warm. Tliis must subside." Mr. 
Read writes to his brother James, 10th May, 17G9 : "All 
application to our mother for her consent in favor of Bed- 
ford proves fruitless, and from what I hear from Mrs. Read 
the two young people are determined to go together. He pro- 



OF GEORGE BEAD. ■ 35 

vided himself with some clothes when he was in Philadel- 
phia; and that Poll might have something new I this day 
gave her a brown mantua, a color not very commonly used 
on such occasions, but such a one as will be serviceable to 
her hereafter; and Mrs. Read has told her, from me, that 
they may be married at my house, which I thought it pru- 
dent to offer, as the marriage was to be. If the match should 
not answer our wishes, the blame, of course, will be laid upon 
me. Be tliis as it may, I believe I have done what was best, 
and therefore think I am doing the duty of a brother in thus 
countenancing their intentions, which I learn will be carried 
into execution the next week or the week following." They 
were married then or soon after, and though under circum- 
stances in one particular inauspicious, the match did "an- 
swer the wishes of their friends." Mr. Bedford was a native 
of Philadelphia. He served in the war of 1755, with the rank 
of lieutenant,* in the Pennsylvania levy, and as lieutenant- 
colonel of the Delaware regiment shared in the campaign 
of 1776. He was wounded in the battle of White Plains, 
October, 1776, at the head of his regiment; and after filling 
with ability and fidelity several important offices, was elected 
Governor of Delaware, dying September 30th, 1797. while 
holding this office. His integrity, coupled with great benevo- 
lence and with very bland and kindly manners, made him 
highly popular. My grandfather was a good judge of char- 
acter, and I cannot, I think, be mistaken in the conclusion 
that the mother in this case was unreasonable, nnd his course 
at once wise and kind. Colonel Bedford and his friend Col- 
onel Grantham were married the same evening, and made 
an asrreement that to the one of them who should have a 
child first born to him the other should send a quarter-cask 
of wine, and, as I have heard, neither had issue! It does 
not appear that the farm was made over to Colonel Bedford, 
• 

* " Among the names subscribed to the petition of officers of the three 
Pennsylvania battalions who served in this war to the U. S. House of 
Representatives, 1806, for leave to locate their claims, under the procla- 
mation of Georg-e III., a.d. 17fi3, on United States Western vacant land, 
is that of 'John Stockton, for Lieutenant Gunning Bedford.' He was 
elected lieutenant-colonel of the Delaware regiment by Congress, Janu- 
ary 19th, 1776." — Juurnals of Congress, vol.ii. p. 30 ; Folwell's edition, 
A.D. 1800. " He was afterwards appointed Deputy Muster- Master-Gen- 
eral, and then promoted to the office of Muster-Master-General." — Ibid., 
vol. ii. p. 210. 



36 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 

but I think it probable that it was ; however, he died seized 
of it. 

In a letter of April 15th, 1769, to a near kinsman, Mr. 
Read urges upon him the duty of ohservingthe Sabbath, which, 
like too many others, in the hurry of business, he had some- 
times, on the specious plea of necessity, infringed. I extract 
the following paragraph from this letter with great pleasure, 
firmly persuaded as I am of the connection between the ob- 
servance of the Lord's day and the prosperity and happiness 
of individuals, families, and nations, and feehng that I give 
my grandfather an additional claim to gratitude and rever- 
ence by adding his name to the long list of men, the wisest 
and best that have lived, who have advocated the observ- 
ance of Sunday, — among them Sir Matthew Hale, who de- 
clared "that no temporal business which he commenced on 
the Sabbath ever prospered :" 

"I have your letter of the 11th inst., and am sorry to be 
told by you that for want of time in the six days of labor you 
break in upon the Sabbath, and do that which upon no sound 
reasoning can be deemed a necessary work on that day of 
rest. Permit me to say this as I have considered this matter 
well, and was too long in the commission of like breaches 
of that day, and as soon as I gave reason and conscience 
fair \i\viy 1 became convinced of my default. Believe me, 
it is dangerous to indulge ourselves in small breaches of that 
duty we owe to the Divinity, asoy^e is apt to bring on others, 
and I am persuaded that when you come to recollect the 
parts of each day of the six, you will find that some of those 
parts might have been employed upon this necessary work. 
It has frequently been my case. Take not amiss this hint; 
it truly proceeds from brotherly love towards you, and be 
assured it will be pleasing to me that you take the like lib- 
erty whenever an occasion offers, which, I confess, would be 
frequent, if you were nearer to me." 

The kinsman thus reproved immediately thanked Mr. 
Read for his reproof, and added that no admonition from 
him would ever be taken amiss, which probably encouraged 
him to give, on the 26tli of the same month, this additional 
advice : 

"More colds are contracted by wetting the feet than in 
any other way. It is an old maxim in favor of health 'that 
you keep your head cool and feet dry,' and a very just one; 



OF GEORGE BEAD. 37 

but I suspect chewing tobacco, especially so much as you do, 
is very hurtful; it draws off too much of the saliva from the 
stomach, which is necessary for digestion. I apprehend it 
useful if taken before your breakfast in the morning, but 
not after; but it must be particularjy hurtful when used 
immediately after a meal. Leave it off by degrees. The 
disorder you have been attacked with is a most violent one, 
and to prevent returns of it you must carefully attend to 
your constitution, to discover the cause, and, when dis- 
covered, take pains to remove it. I do think that with a 
little attention most men may be their own physicians in 
the general, and health is so pleasing that every one ought 
to make the attempt. Good water is the best diluent, and 
assists digestion more than any other liquid; when the 
weather becomes cold it may be right to put a toast in it. 
A draught of it, as soon as one rises in the morning, is good 
for sedentary, studious persons." 

He announces to Colonel Read* the result of an election, 

* Colonel Read, several years the junior of Mr. Read, established 
himself in Philadelphia as a merchant, and retired, after prosecuting his 
business for a long period, with a competency, the just reward of his 
probity, industry, and enterprise. He informed me that he was present 
(with the rank of lieutenant) at the battle of Princeton, and also at the 
battle of Trenton, being a volunteer; that his blanket overcoat was 
pierced by balls, and that a Hessian, charging upon him, he, after vainly 
signing to him to surrender, was compelled to fire in self defence, 
wounding him in the side. He directed him to a place where he sup- 
posed he could be assisted, but as he never saw him again, did not 
know whether his wound was fatal or not. Colonel Read jiarticipated 
also in the battle of Germantown with the rank of major. James Read 
received from Dr. Williamson the information as to the way in which 
the celebrated letters of Hutchinson, Oliver, and others were obtained, 
and communicated it directly, and also through Bishop White, who was 
his neighbor, to Dr. Hossack of New York. The Bishop writes, 14th 
October, 1819: "The Mr. Read, mentioned in this letter, is brother to 
the late George Read, Esquire, of New Castle, member of the first 
Congress, and since senator for Delaware. I have no doubt of the cor- 
rectness of the communication of Mr. James Read, independently of 
the character he has sustained through life, and to a great age. Dr. 
Williamson and he were born within twelve miles of each other, and 
were companions from their boyhood." — Collections of (he New York 
Eii>t07-ical Society, vol. ii'. pp. 145-152, and 177, 178. 

" Colonel Read died 31st Deceml)er, 1822, in the seventy-ninth year of 
his age. He was a member of the Supreme Executive Council of Penn- 
sylvania (Hogan's State Trials, p. 56), and a Paymaster of the Con- 
tinental navy, and a Commissioner of that navy." — Cooper''s Naval 
History, vol. i. pp. 100, 101 ; Journal of Congress, 1777-8, p. 460. 



38 LIFE AND COBRESPONDENCE 

which had just been ascertained, in the letter which 
follows : 

"3d October, 1769. 
"Dear James, — I write this after being up all night 
waiting the event of«the election, which closed after day- 
light this morning, occasioned by the greatest number of 
voters that ever appeared here before. The old Assembly 
continues, myself the fifth man, with 1005 votes; B. Noxon, 
the sixth, with 675 votes; T. Duff, highest in return for 
Sheriff, by 213 votes; Alexander Porter, second, who has 
told me, this morning, he will not go up to the Governor; 
Henry Vining, of Newport, [is] highest for Coroner by 201 
votes; one Thomas Morton, second, who declines going up 
also. By this the Governor loses his choice. The electors 
were computed at 1500. Evan Rice, at the head of the 
Assembly-list, had 1348, W. Armstrong, 1246, J. Evans, 
1222, and T. McKean, 1021. There were three candidates 
for the Sheriff's office, viz.. Duff, Porter, and Van Bebber, 
the highest of whom had but 664 votes, so that each can- 
didate had almost in every ticket a single clear vote. Por- 
ter says he is satisfied, and will go liome and mind liis mill, 
which really is a mark of prudence. Mrs. Read and Bed- 
ford got down in good time on Sunday evening, all well. 
You are to buy a card- or side-table, with a leaf that folds 
over, when opportunity offers. I have sent Philip Wirt 
down to Dennis's Creek to bring me up one thousand cedar- 
rails, promised to be very good. My masons are laying the 
last stretch of wall along the bank, and will nearly finish 
this week, and I shall be sincerely glad. A hurry of busi- 
ness begins with me the last of this week, when the Dover 
Supreme [Court] happens, and [I] shall continue employed 
in Courts and Assembly till the beginning of December, — 
but a disagreeable prospect. Mrs. Read gives her love to 
Mrs. Wharton, yourself, and all friends, and I am, dear 
James, yours very sincerely, 

"George Read." 

I wish, from my heart I wish, that every disappointed 
office-seeker may have the wisdom of Porter, one of the 
defeated candidates for the Sheriffalty in the foregoing letter 
mentioned. If, when defeated, instead of trying their luck 
again in the political lottery, like prudent Porter, they 



OF GEORGE READ. 39 

would go home and mind their mills, or farms, or work- 
shops, there would be fewer of our yeomanry degraded to 
be office-hunters, ready to do the dirty work of demngogues: 
then they might thank God, in every day of after-life, for 
defeat: then, earning their bread with the sweat of their 
brow, owing no one anything, and scorning to vote at the 
beck of any man or part}^, they could walk abroad Avith the 
port of independence and honor. 

Mr. Read, who practised in Kent and Sussex counties, 
Delaware, as well as New Castle, writes to Mrs. Read from 
Sussex, as follows : 

''5th May, 1770. 

" My dear G , I sit down to converse with you at 

this distance from necessity, as our separation must con- 
tinue, at least, these eight days to come. This is Saturday 
evening, and I am at Mr. KoUack's, much fatigued with the 
two past weeks' service. At Dover, I was in court all one 
night and the greater part of another; this brought on an 
attack of my old complaint, which has continued upon me, 
more or less, ever since. I came to Lewis on Saturday 
evening last. Sunday and Monday I did not stir out. On 
Tuesday I went into court, was up all night; Wednesday . 
we did nothing; Thursday the dispute between the Justices 
and Grand Jury was heard, and determined in favor of 
the former. Yesterday we went into the trial of an eject- 
ment, and did not leave the court till sunrise this morning. 
In all these matters I have had my share of success, — of 
the two at Dover, both went in my favor; of the three at 
Lewis, I succeeded in two. This is a short account of my- 
self and works. To-morrow I set off for Prime-Hook neck, 
and expect to be there on Monday evening, if possible. Mr. 
KoUack's family are w^ell, and desire to be remembered to 
you. They have been extremely kind. Miss Armitage 
came here with Mr. Rodney, and returns to-morrow morn- 
ing. Rodney has had the asthma ever since he came, — at 
particular times very ill, — but made a shift to attend the 
courts on the hearing of the affair of the Grand Jury, of 
which Clowes was the foreman, and this was a case of 
great expectation in the county, and drew great numbers 
in; but Clowes, the Wilkes or McDongal of Sussex, was re- 
manded to prison, to the mortification of the party. Mr. 
"William and Rodney being of this opinion, Hall against it. 



40 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 

wlio seems to be under rather more uneasiness than Clowes. 
As this is the only topic here, I have been thus particular 
about it. Pray kiss our little ones for me. Take care of 
yourself and tliem, and believe me your very aifectionate 
husband, 

"George Read. 

"I have taken six tickets in St. James's Church Lottery." 

I find in Mr. Eead's "Almanack" for 1771 a ticket in a 
lottery for the benefit of the New Castle and Christiana 
Presbyterian Church, having his signature, with Way^/j writ- 
ten on the back of it.* 

I find among Mr. Read's papers a file of copies of his 
letters to his brothers William, John, James, and Thomas, 
and their letters to him from 17G2 to 1772. I read them 
with interest because they exhibit strong fraternal attach- 
ment, and afford glimpses of his private life during that 
period. In 1763 James announces the murder of William, 
settled as a merchant in the West Indies; and his brother 
Thomas,-{- commanding a ship, writes from Jamaica, "that 
he had a narrow escape from being taken by a Spanish 
privateer, his crew of fifteen men not being such as he could 
rely upon, except three or four, but he got clear of the out- 
landish devils, the wind blowing a gale." Mr. Read is 
much occupied with his profession, practising law in the 
three lower counties on Delaware and in one or more in 
Pennsylvania. He tells his brother James, 9tli December, 
1768, " I rode your horse to Chester, but he proved so very 
unruly for the first three miles (rearing as many times) that 
I was forced to dismount. With spurs he might have been 
pushed on. Tliis is a bad habit." All the time Mr. Read 
can spare from his profession is devoted to his farm 
SStonum.'" April 8th, 1769, he tells James, "Parson Mont- 
gomery, late of Cicorgetown, Maryland, preaches to-morrow 
on trial." May 7th, 1769, he is in great anxiety for his two 
little boj^s, who had been inoculated; and as I read his ex- 
pression of uneasiness, I feel how great is our debt of grati- 
tude to Jenner. Jul}- 7tli, 1769, his wife presents him with 
a fine boy, and is doing well: and 15th of September, Mrs. 
Read, Mrs. Bedford, and Miss Armitage embark, in James's 

* See post, Appendix E. f See Appendix F. 



OF GEORGE READ. 41 

shallop, from Christiana, and arrive, wind and tide favoring, 
at Phihidelphia the same day;* and he tells his brother 
James "he will have little to do for some time, as most of 
the mills, from which he received flour for sale, had their 
dams carried away by the late flood, and he had lost some 
of his second crop hay, and there iiad been much destruc- 
tion, in all parts of the country, in timber and apple-trees 
blown down, with fences inclosing them, and cattle killed 
by eating the apples, and the stage-boat had gone adrift in^ 
the late storm, and has not been up since, and it might 
have- been lucky if it had been beaten to pieces, as probably 
the present owner could not have procured another vessel, 
and some person more fitting would have supplied his place 
— he and I are on bad terms at present, and it is probable 
will continue so till he becomes more careful and industri- 
ous. James must get him cedar rails, and the wall before 
his bank is progressing, and will be finished by the election; 
but the persons who furnish stone worry him by delays. 
His brother Thomas has met with some ill luck, which is 
too frequently so with him." And 9th August, 1770, Tom 
writes, "The intelligence that James intends taking a mess- 
mate gives me great satisfaction." February 9th, 1770, 
James writes, "I inclose a statement of the prices of the 
books you spoke to me about from the original invoice, and 
the prices they will be sold at, and not a farthing less. 
They are all in exceeding good order, and the latest and 
best editions, and purchased by^ Dr. Franklin for the Union 
Library. The first and second volumes of the 'Debates of 
the House of Commons' have been used the most, though no 
ways abused, the rest appear all new, and are, I think, 
much better than those I saw with you. If you should 
think to take any of them, I should be glad of your direc- 
tions as soon as possible, as Mr. Dickinson has been speak- 
ing about them, but has not said whether he would take 
them or not. Hughs, whose possession they are in, thinks 



* This, when the mig-hty agent, steam, had not made the traveller 
independent of wind and tide, was a very good passage. 

Mr. John Holmes, of Baltimore, announces, September 4th, 1807, in 
a letter to George Read, Esquire, the arrival there of Mrs. Read, after 
a pleasant passage by packet-boat of only seventeen hours from New 
Castle to that city! Travellers now pass daily the whole distance be- 
tween Philadelphia and Baltimore in five or six hours. 

4 



42 LIFE AND COBRESPONDENGE 

you will never have an opportunity of getting them on so 
good terms. I would onl}?- add, that they are in such order 
that you need not be ashamed of seeing them in your 
library. They are lettered on the back with the ;years they 
belong to, in a neat manner. There is nothing talked of 
here but the will of Colonel Flower, by which he left his 
whole estate to his widow, a woman of most infamous char- 
acter, who, by the assistance of the devil, or some worse 
power (if any worse there be), obtained such an influence 
over hitn as to make him, in the disposal of his effects, re- 
ject his children by his former wife in such a manner as to 
leave them scarce a support. There has been a hearing 
before the Register-General for several days, and a number 
of witnesses have been examined on each side. This case 
will be concluded to-morrow, when the gentlemen of the 
law are to ^peak; but I am told the pleadings are to be in 
private, which I am very sorry for, as I should be glad to 
hear them. The counsel for the children are Messrs. 
Tilghman, Dickinson, and Galloway; those for the widow, 
Messrs. Ross and Hunt, who have quite the unpopular side 
of the debate. The public seem greatly to interest them- 
selves on the side of the children. I can have no oppor- 
tunity to speak to Mr. Ross about the wine until this alfair 
is over." Mr. Read is the point where the affections of his 
brothers centred. As I read, almost a centurj^ after they 
happened, these occurrences, the like to which make up the 
lives of most men, they are invested with interest by the 
reflection, that when they were written, nigh, at the very 
door, was that great crisis which called Mr. Rend from his 
profession, his farm, and his family, to the public service, 
and that of the tranquil pursuits and happiness of private 
life he was never more to have but fitful enjo3'ment. 



OF GEORGE READ. 43 



APPENDICES TO CHAPTER I. 



NOTICE OF JOHN ROSS. 

John Ross was the son of the Reverend George Ross, rector of Im- 
manuel Church, New Castle, Delaware, and was born in the year 
1714.* 

Where, and to what degree, he was educated docs not appear. His 
father, a graduate of the University of Edinburgh, and more competent 
than any teacher he could have employed, nuay himself have under- 
taken the task of instructing the son, at least in the Latin and Greek 
languages. 

He studied law, and practised it with great success, in Philadelphia, 
for many years, acquiring by his practice a large property. 

The scanty information in reference to John Ross that I have been 
able to obtain, is contained in the following brief extracts: 

" The manuscript correspondence of Secretary Peters with the Pro- 
prietaries [of Pennsylvania] often speaks disparagingly of the Phila- 
delphia bar, whether truly or from umbrage is not made out, as they 
are but simple declarations of opinion without any reason assigned. In 
1H3 he speaks of John Ross as successful beyond his merits, by en- 
grossing as luuch as all the others, Hamilton only excepted. In 1749 
he says of them generally, ' all of whom, excei)t Francis and Moland, 
are persons of no knowledge, and, I had almost said, of no principle.' 
John Ross acquired a large estate, and had his dwelling well out of 
town." 

" When lawyers practised in the old court-house, lawyers Ross and 
Lawrence had their offices in the small alley called Chancery Lane, a 
name derived from them. It would now be deemed an ignoble place 
for such an honored profession [as the legal] ; but it marked the day of 
small things, and verified the toast called for by the same John Ross of 
Mark Wattson (both being professed jokers), 'the day he hoped for, 
when two lawyers would have to ride on the same horse.' ''f 

" When the disputes between Great Britain and her North American 
colonies commenced, 'the lawyers, who, from the bent of their studies 
and their habit of speaking in public, were best qualified to take the 
lead in the various assemblies which became necessary, were little 
unanimous in the Whig cause. A few, indeed, of the most conspicuous 

* John Ross, son to George Ross (infant), was baptized 21st October. 1714. — 
Register of Christening in the Parish of Lnmanuel Church, New Castle, Delaware, 
p. 1. 

t Watson's Annals of Philadelphia, p. 266. 



44 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 

practitioners in Philadelphia were either disaffected or lukeAvarrn. 
Among- them, Mr. Joseph Galloway, though a memljer of Congress, 
was known to be a disapprover of the measures then pursuing. From 
Mr. Chew, Mv. Tilghman, and Mr. Shippen no activity was expected, 
they being proprietary-men, and in the enjoyment, under that interest, 
of offices of trust and importance. Their favorable disposition to the 
American cause was to be inferred from the sons of the two first having 
joined the military association.'" 

"Mr. John Ross, who loved ease and madeira much better than lib- 
erty, declared for neutrality, saying, he well knew 'that let who would 
baking, he should be subject.' An observation which, judging only 
from events, may be thought by some to contain as much intrinsic wis- 
dom as the whole of the ' Farmers' Letters,' with all the legal, political, 
and constitutional knowledge they display."* 

The next paragraph, an extract from the deposition of the late George 
Head, Esquire, in a suit brought for the recovery of property in New 
Castle, Delaware, I)y a party deriving title from John Ross, exhibits 
him, as he was, delighting his friends by his wit or humor, and winning 
their warm affections by his amiableness. 

" To the 10th interrogatory this deponent saith that his first knowl- 
edge of John Ross was in his early youth, and among the first re- 
collected impressions made on his mind. It was in the summer of the 
year 1713 or 1774 that he was standing at the front door of the late resi- 
dence of his father, in New Castle, with his mother late in the after- 
noon, looking with amazement and terror upon an approaching storm, 
which had thrown a deep gloom upon the surrounding scenery. His 
mother pointed out to him a pilot-boat coming down the Delaware, and 
whicii the violence of the wind ai)peared to have almost set over, ex- 
pressing apprehension for the safety of the people [on board of it]. 
Soon after the sails of this vessel were lowered, and a small boat put 
off from it, with persons on board, towards the shore, and run in upon 
the mud at low water-mark, the tide then having ebbed. That imme- 
diately two persons jumped out of this boat, and took from thence two 
other persons upon their backs, and walked with them towards the 
river-bank. One of the carriers, however, had not proceeded far with 
the person on his back before he fell with him in the mud. In a few 
moments after they came up to the place where the deponent's mother 
was, and were her Ijrother John Ross and Captain Swanwick. The 
latter was the man who had been tumbled in the mud, as appeared 
from much of it sticking to his garments. He was a very corpulent 
man. This occurrence excited much mirth at this time, whicli was 
heightened by Mr. Ross, who was a man of great vivacity, wit, and 
humor. And this dei)onent's impression of John Ross, at that time, 
was deepened and strengthened by the notice he took of him during 
the evening, telling him various stories, calculated to interest and amuse 
children. Mr. Ross was the maternal uncle by the half-blood of this 
deponent." 

In the year 1760 Mr. Ross took a leading and active part in the good 
work of organizing a new Protestant Episcopal congregation in Phila- 
delphia, as appears by the subjoined extract from the 'sermon of Dr. 

* Graydon's Memoirs, p. 105, first edition. 



OF GEORGE BEAD. 45 

P'ophen H. Tynj;, preached 1st January, 1831, at the consecration of 
iSt. Paul's Church, Philadelphia, then recently improved and repaired. 

" Mr. McClenachan had officiated for a year as assistant minister in 
Christ Church, Philadelphia, when a disagreement arising between him 
and the other ministers of that church, his duties in that capacity ter- 
minated, and a portion of the Christ Church conirregation, who favored 
Mr. McClenachan, wishing still to enjoy the advantage they had re- 
ceived from his doctrine and example, withdrew with him, and formed 
themselves into a separate congregation under the title of St. Paul's 
Church They assembled for the first time for worship, as a new con- 
gregation, on Sunday, 22d June, 1760, in the State House, where a 
congregation of from four to five thousand persons assembled, so ex- 
tensive was the excitement produced by these events when they occurred. 
The use of this spacious building was granted them by the colonial 
authorities until their church could be completed, which was immedi- 
ately undertaken On the 24th of June, one week after the separation 
of Mr. McClenachan from Christ Church, the articles of agreement were 
signed by ninety-seven members of the congregration, which constituted 
them as the congregation of St. Paul's Church, and which still form the 
basis of their congregational charter and laws. This document is said 
to have been written by Mr. John Ross, a distinguished counsellor of 
that day, who had been a steadfast friend of Mr. McClenachan ; who 
also was elected the first warden of this church, and whose remains still 
lie beneath the floor on which you are now assembled. From the same 
pen, also, proceeded the able address from the new vestry to the Bishop 
of London, and most of the early correspondence upon our records."* 

If by reason of the extract from Graydon's "Memoirs" it should be 
thought that Mr Ross was a mere voluptuary, a little consideration 
must show that this opinion is wide of the truth ; for a lawyer, who 
has made a large fortune by his practice, must have been a hard-working 
man for the greater part of his life, and a gentleman who employed his 
wealth, and influence, and efi'orts to establish a new congregation of 
Christians, and to build them a house of worship, and then accepted 
one of its offices and discharged its duties, must have felt a lively in- 
terest in the spiritual welfare of his fellow-men, such as no man, solely 
studious of his ease and sensual gratification, could have felt. 

While some indulgence may be claimed for the neutrality of an old 
man in a doubtful contest, in which, if he engaged, he would risk much, 
it must be admitted Mr. Ross was not the stuff out of which martyrs 
and patriots are made.f 

Mr. Ross died the 8th of May, 17*76, and Elizabeth, his wife, nee 
Ashe, on the 7th of October of that year. 



* Sermon of Dr. S. H. Tyng, preached at the consecration of St. Paul's Church, 
Philadelphia, January 1st, IB^U, pp. 8, 9; Dorr's History of Christ Church, 
Philadelphia, pp 119, 120. 

f "September 2oth, 177o, Thursday. — Made an excursion with Congress, etc., 
in the new row-gallies On our return, Dr Kush, Zebly, and Counsellor Ross 
joined us. Ross, a lawyer of great eloquence, and heretofore of extensive prac- 
tice ; a great Tory, but now, they say, beginning to be converted. He said 'the 
Americans were making the noblest and tirinest resistance to tyranny ever made 
by any people. The acts [of Parliament] were grounded in wrong, injustice, and 
oppression. The great town of Boston remarkably punished without being 
heard.'" — Works of John Adams, Diary, vol. ii. p. 429. 



46 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 



LETTERS OF DR. FRANKLIN TO JOHN ROSS. 

Mrs. Marcia G. Ross, widow of David Ross, a g-randson of the 
Reverend George Ross, gave to the author, 6th May, LS52, four letters 
of Dr. Franklin to John Ross. One of the letters, that of 14th May, 
1768, may be found in volume vi. of Dr. Franklin's Works, page 278; 
but as the remaining three of these letters do not appear in his printed 
correspondence, it is concluded the}^ are unpublished, and they are 
therefore subjoined to the foregoing notice of John Ross. 



No. 1. 

"London, Feljnuir}- 14th, 1765. 

"Dear Sir, — I received your obliging favor of December 20th, and 
am glad to find that, though so distant from them, I still live in the 
remembrance of my friends. 

"We have been of late so much engaged in our general American 
affair.s that it was necessary to let what related particularly to our 
Province to sleep a little for the present; but it is nevertheless working 
gradually to its point, and will, I believe, end as we wish it. For the 
Quakers, who, to show their moderation as regards the proprietors, 
havQ (of themselves) undertaken to persuade them to reasonable meas- 
ures, will, on finding them obstinate, give their whole force and weight 
to procure a happy event to the petition, especially as they dread no- 
thing more than what they see otherwise inevitable, their friends in 
Pennsylvania falling totally under the domination of Presbyterians. 

"The changes you mention in the magistracy indicate the measures 
intended, and manifest the means by which they are to be brought about. 
The hasty setting aside such unexceptionable magistrates merely for 
their political opinions was not, however, a step the most prudent, for 
I think it will have different effects from those proposed by it. 

"The stamp-act, notwithstanding all the opposition we have been 
able to give it, will pass. Every step in the law, every newspajjcr, 
advertisement, and almanac is severely taxed. If this should, as I 
imagine it will, occasion less law and less printing, it will fall particu- 
larly hard on us lawyers and printers. 

"The Parliament will, however, ease us in some particulars relating 
to our commerce, and a scheme is under consideration to furnish us 
with a currency, without which we can neither pay debts nor duties. 

" It is said here among the merchants that North America owes them 
no less than four millions sterling. Think what a sum the interest of 
this debt amounts to! — pay them honestly. 

" Be pleased to present my hearty respects to our friends Potts, Paw- 
lin, and Morton. They do not, I dare say, sleep a jot the worse for 
their dismission. There are times in which 

' The post of honor is a private station.' 

But those times will not, I think, long continue. At least nothing in 
my power shall be wanting to change them. 

" My respects to Mrs. Ross, and my young friends of your family ; 



OF GEORGE BEAD. 47 

and believe me, with sincere regard, dear sir, your most obedient, hum- 
ble servant, 

"B. Franklin. 

"John Ross, Esquire, Philadelphia. 

" P.S. — I send you a pamphlet, wrote, I have reason to believe, under 
the direction of the ministry, with a view to make us Americans easy, 
which shows some tenderness for us." 



No. 2. 

" London, June 8th, 1765. 

" Dear Sir, — If, according to the custom here, I congratulate you on 
your having a severe fit of the gout, I cannot avoid mixing some con- 
dolence with my congratulation, for I too have lately had a visit or 
rather vit^itation from the same friend (or enemy) that confined me near 
a fortnight. And notwithstanding the salutary effects people talk of to 
comfort us under our pain, I fancy we should both of us willingly haz- 
ard being without them, rather than have these means of procuring 
them too frequently repeated. I may possibly be, as they tell me, 
greatly obliged to the gout; but the 'condition of this obligation is 
such' that I cannot heartily say I thank ye. I hope, however, your slow 
recovery proved at length a perfect one. And I pray that your estab- 
lished health may long continue. 

" The outrages committed by the frontier people are really amazing ! 
But impunity for former riots has emboldened them. Rising in arms 
to destroy property, public and private, and insulting the King's troops 
and fort, is going great lengths indeed. If, in Mr. Cliief's opinion, our 
Resolves might be called rebellion, what does the gentleman call this? 
I can truly say, it gives me great concern. Such practices throw a dis- 
grace over our whole country that can only be wiped off by exemplary 
punishment of the actors, which our loeak government cannot or will 
not inflict. And the people I pity for their want of sense. Those who 
have inflamed and misled them have a deal to answer for. 

" Our Petition, which has been becalmed for some time, is now get- 
ting under way again, and all appearances are for us. I hope before 
Captain Friend sails to give you some account of our progress. 

" My respectful compliments to Mrs. Ross, and my friends, the young 
ladies, to whom I wish every felicity. 

"I am, dear sir, your most obedient, humble servant, 

" B. Franklin. 

"John Ross, Esquire, Philadelphia." 



No. 3. 

"London, April 11th, 1767. 
" Dear Sir, — I received your favor of December 8th and February 
22d, and thank you for the particular accounts you send me of affairs 
on your side the water, which are very agreeable to me to read. 

"Here public affairs are in great disorder; a strong opposition 
against the ministry, which, at the same time, is thought not to be well 



48 



LIFE AND COBRESPONDENCE 



united ; and daily apprehensions of new changes make it extremely diffi- 
cult to get forward with business. We must use patience. This satis- 
faction we have, that there is scarce a man of weight, in or out of the 
ministry, that has not now a favorable opinion of the proposed change 
of government in the Proprietary colonies ; but during the present vio- 
lent heats, occasioned by some conduct of the Assemblies of New York 
and Boston, and which the opposition aggravate highly in order to dis- 
tress the friends of America in the present ministry, nothing so little 
interesting to them as our application can get forward. 

" Your messages on the subject of the Circuit-Bill are not yet arrived. 
I much want to see them. 

" I send you a little essay of an inscription to the memory of my 
departed, amiable young friend, whose loss I deplore with you most 
sincerely. If it has been long coming to your hand, I hope that has 
occasioned your being furnished with another and a better. The style 
is simple and plain, and more proper for such things than affected orna- 
mental expression. 

"I am looking out for a chariot for you, which I shall send you as 
soon as possible. 

" With great esteem, I am, dear friend, yours aifectionately, 

"B. Franklin. 

"John Ross, Esquire, Philadelphia, per packet via New York." 



We who have hereunto subscribed our names do acknowledge to be 
duly enlisted, pursuant to an Act of the General Assembly of this 
Government, in Richard McWilliams' company of foot, in the regiment 
■whereof William Armstrong, Esquire, is Colonel, in New Castle 
County, 28th December, 1757. 



Samuel Van Leuvenigh, 
Wm. Spenser, Jr., 
John McClughan, 
Peter Jaquet, 
Jacob Colesberry, 
Thomas jMcKean, ^ 

Attorney at Law 
Jno. Thompson, 
Joseph Enos, 
Richard Eves, 
AVin. Blackburn, 
Jas. Boggs, 
John Stewart, 
Thomas Sproul, 
Joseph Jaquet, 
Magnus Kettle, 
Joseph Tatlow, 
Israel Stalcup, 
John Moody, 
William Humes, 



John Patterson, 
John Humes, 
William Creath, 
James Lefever, 
Isaac Janvier, 
Stephen Enos, 
, George Peterson, Jr., 
John Silsbee, 
Wm. Walker, 
Jacobus Haines, Jr., 
Daniid McGennis, 
Samuel Janvier, 
Robt. McMann, 
John l)owal, 
John Stoop, Jr., 
Thomas San key, 
Philip Janvier, 
John Booth, 
llaynolds Eamsay, 
Cornelius Garrelson, 



James Craig, 
Christopher Stoop, 
Jamas Eves, 
John Makel, 
Matthew Cannon, 
Peter Jaquet, 
John Jaquet, 
John Brock, 
Michael Blew, 
Allan AV^ilson, 
Thomas Stidham, 
William Slebey, 
Wm. Hunt. 
Kiohard Derham, 
Philip Van Leuvenigh, 
Jacob .Janvier, 
Isaac Dowell, 
Patrick Hughes, 
John McNamee, 
Wm. Chirk, 



OF GEORGE READ. 



49 



Peter Morton, 
John McFarland, 
Jeremiah Pratt, 
William Spencer, 
David Campbell, 
James Dyer, 
Kobert Purniss, 
George James, 
Kichard Janvier, 
Samuel MeMuUin, 
Jacob Eoss, M.D., 
George Kead, Att. , 
Townsend Matthews, 
John Boyd, 
Samuel Dick, 
John Harris, 

his 
William x Peterson, 

mark, 
David Finney, Attor. 
William Nesbit, 
Tho. Jaquett, 
Abraham Pratt, 



Charles Springer, 
Cornelius Devining, 
Cornelius Heines, 
David Whittito, 
Henry Horan, 
Hector McNeil, 
Jno. Anderson, 
John Kius, 
Jno Eves, 
Jasper Clawson, 
John Clawson, 
Maken McNeight, 
Peter Stidham, 
Patrick Yeates, 
Peter Sufridus Alrick, 
Robert Scott, 
Robt. Harthorn, 
Thomas Pike, 
Wm. Floyd, 
W^ni. Ervin, 
Wm. Marchent, 
John MclSToltey, 
Peter Vincy, 



Wm. Devers, 
Wm. Staford, 
Walter Hughes, 
Jacob Kroock, 
Joseph Kirk, 
Morton Morton, 
John Chatham, Jr., 
John M. Mor^land, 
Stephen Bennett, 
Frederick Smith, 
David Biddle, 
Jno. Hall, 
Isaac Justice, 
Wm Conynghani, 
Wm. Crawl ord, 
Baston Malgold, 
Daniel Graham, 
Philip Stoop, 
Samuel Johnston, 
Wm. McDowell, 
James Patterson, 
Michael King, 
William McKennoy. 



The foregoing "List" was taken, with other public papers, by the 
British, soon after the battle of Branclywine, from New Castle County, 
Delaware, to New York, from whence they were brougiit l)ack by James 
Booth, secretary of said State, among whose papers this " List" was 
found by his grandson, Mr. Joseph Henry Rogers, who has kindly per- 
mitted me to copy it as above. 

William T. Read. 



O. 



NOTICE OF JOHN DICKINSON. 

John Dickinson was the eldest son of Samuel Dickinson and Mary 
Cadwallader, his second wife (descended from one of the first settlers 
of Pennsylvania), and was born in Maryland in 1732. His father, 
several years after his birth, removed to the vicinity of Dover, in Kent 
County, Delaware, and was presiding Judge of the Court of Common 
Pleas there. He owned a large estate in land in Kent County. Chan- 
cellor Killen, originally a carpenter (as I have been informed), was, 
when still a young man, tutor to John Dickinson. Where Mr. Dickin- 
son completed his education does not appear, but it may safely be con- 
cluded, from the extent of his knowledge (especially of the classics), 
and his style oi' writing (characterized by elegance, purity, copiousness, 
and vigor), that his instructors were competent and faithful. In addi- 
tion to the " Farmers' Letters," by which he is most extensively known, 
he wrot% nine letters, signed "Fabius," advocating the ratification of 
the Constitution of the United States, and fourteen under this signature, 
to inform his fellow-citizens in regard to the French Revolution, still in 
progress, and foster and increase friendly feeling for the French people. 



50 LIFE AND COEBESPONDENCE 

His latter years were spent in Wilmington, Delaware, whither he re- 
tired from public life. There his style of living- was liberal, as suited 
his ample fortune, but not inconsistent with the simplicity of the sect 
of Quakers to which he belonged, and he found occupation and amuse- 
ment in his I)ooks and the society of friends, and consolation under the 
inevitable ills of old age in acts of Ijenevolence and the duties of reli- 
gion.* " Christianity," in a note to the second series of his " Letters" 
signed " Faliius," he styles " the divine religion of our blessed Saviour." 
He died in Wilmington on the fourteenth day of February, 1S08, and 
was interred in the Friends' burying-ground. No stone marks his grave. 
His political writings were pul)Iished in Wilmington, Delaware, in 1801, 
in two octavo volumes. By his purity, patriotism, and benevolence, 
his statesmanship, his oratory, and chiefly by his writings, he is entitled 
to be ranked with the most eminent of his contemporaries. f 

John Adams (Diary, Works, vol. ii. p. 300), meeting with Mr. Dick- 
inson (31st August, 1774) at the lodgings of General Ward, thus de- 
scribes him : " Just recovered from an illness, he is a shadow : tall, but 
slender as a reed, pale as ashes ; one would think, at first sight, he 
could not live a month, yet, upon a more attentive inspection, he looks 
as if the springs of life were strong enough for many years." 

An intercepted letter of John Adams (July 24th, 1775) to General 
Warren contained this paragraph : "A certain great fortune, and pid- 
dling genius [meaning John Dickinson], whose fame has been trumpeted 
so loudly, has given a cast of folly to our whole doings." — -Diartj, pp. 
411, 412. Mr. Dickinson was justly offended, and expressed his resent- 
ment because of this dispara'.iing opinion of him, as appears by this 
further e.xtrast from Mr. Adams's Diary, p. 423: "Friday, September 
15th, 1775. — "Walking to the State House, this morning, I met Mr. 
Dickinson on foot in Chestnut Street. We passed near enough to touch 
elbows. He passed without moving his hat, head, or hands. I bowed 
and pulled off my hat. He passed haughtily b5^ The cause of his 
offence, no doubt, is the letter which Gage has published in Draper's 
paper. I shall for the future pass him in the same manner ; but I was 
determined to make my bow, to know his temper. AVe are not to be on 
-^ sjieaking or bowing terms for the time to come." 

" 1 saw John Adams," said Dr. Rush, "after the publication of this 
intercepted letter, walk the streets of Philadelphia alone (in 1775), an 
object of nearly universal scorn and detestation." This statement is 
, corroborated by other witnesses. | 

I met, accidentally, in " Niles's Register" (vol. xii. p. 300, of January 
3d, 1818), with the following anecdote, so remarkable that 1 extract it 
from this voluminous work, whore it will probably escape the notice of 
most persons, and append it as a note to the foregoing sketch of John 
Dickinson. 

"A circumstance once happened to me that showed the power of the 
mind abstracted from personal sensibilities. Fifteen or sixteen years 
ago, then residing at Wilmington, Delaware, as I passed the house of 

* Rcininisconcps of Wilmington, pp. 290, 291, 292. 

t Di'lnwiiro Kcgistcr, vol. i. pp. 178 to 189 inclusive; Encvclopicdia Americana, 
vol. iv J.].. 227, 228. 

X 2d Adams's Writings, pp. 423, 513. 



OF GEORGE READ. 51 

the late venerable John Dickinson, at twelve o'clock in the cL^y, he was 
standing- in the door, and invited nie in. After reproving- nie for not 
having- called to see him, for he had been a little unwell, he said he 
would have a glass of old wine with me, the first that he had drank for 
six weeks. Afrer taking a couple of glasses of wine in instant succes- 
sion, he suddenly sat down, and abruptly asked me what I thought of 
the discussion then going- on in Congress on the great question about 
the judiciary. Having very briefly given my opinion, he said in a 
sprightly manner, 'I'll tell thee mine,'— on which he began an argu- 
ment, soon became animated, and was uneasy in his seat. As he pro- 
ceeded, he elevated his voice, and finally, rising slowly and unconsciously 
from his chair, he put forth his hand, and addressed me as if I had been 
the chairman of a legislative body with all its members present. I never 
have Jieard a discourse that was comparable to his speech, for its fire 
and spirit poured forth in a torrent, and clothed in the most beautiful 
and persuasive language. The graceful gestures of the orator, his fine 
and venerable figure, interesting countenance, and locks ' white as wool,' 
formed a tout ensemble that riveted me to my chair with admiration. 
His delirium, if it may be so called, lasted for nearly half an hour, when 
it was interrupted by one of the family entering the room. He stopped 
'instantly, with a word half finished on his lips, and sat down in great 
confusion ; apologized for his strange behavior, and entirely dropped 
the subject. Mr. Dickinson was an eloquent speaker, and one of the 
most accomplished scholars that our country has produced; but, per- 
haps, he never pronounced a speech so eloquent, so chaste, and so 
beautiful as that which he delivered before me, as stated. It was his 
soul, rather than his person, that acted on the occasion, and a master- 
spirit it was. The argument was in favor of a repeal of the judiciary 
act." 



ID. 

AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF THE REV. GEORGE ROSS. 

The following autobiography of the Reverend George Ross, with the 
letter prefixed to it, was copied by the author, August, 1835, from an- 
ancient manuscript (itself a copy) in the possession of his brother, 
George Read, Junior, the words contained between hooks or brackets — 
thus, [ ] — having been supplied by him as suggested by the context. 

"My very good Son, — You have, inclosed, an answer to your re- 
peated request, wherein you may observe the easy and regular steps [by 
which] Providence conducted me to settle in this country. If my pos- 
terity contract any l)lemisli, it must be from themselves: no original 
guilt can be imputed to them. It is Avell the rise of many families in 
these parts, like the head of the Nile, is unknown, and their glory con- 
sists in their obscurity. It is your satisfaction that it is otherwise with 
you: your escutcheon is without blot or stain. Contend, therefore, for 
the honor of your family by a kind and generous behavior towards 
the several branches of it, relieve them from contempt by your benefi- 



52 LIFE AND CORBESPONDENCE 

cence, and put them above the world by exercising that ability towards 
them which God has blessed you with, which, if you do, God will 
•rather you, in his good time, to your honest and worthy progenitors. 
1 have a quick sense of your filial favors, and you may be assured, dear 
son, that I am your most obliged and affectionate father. 

"George Ross. 
"John Ross, Esquire." 

George Ross, Rector (as he is styled in his presentation) of the 
Church in New Castle, was second son that came to man's estate of 
David Ross, of Balblair, a gentleman of moderate fortune but of great 
integrity, born in the north of Scotland, in the Shire of Ross, in the 
Parisli of Fern [near the town of Tain], about four or five miles [from 
that part of] the shire between two friths, the one the Frith of Murray, 
the other the Frith of Dornoch. Tlie land lying between the two friths 
terminates in a noted point called Tarbat-Ness.* 

He was put to school very early, and made some progress in the 
Latin tongue under the care of the school-master [in Tain], and being 
of a promising genius, his father asked him, as they were going to a 
farm a little distance from home, " What he would be ?" to which he 
answered, "A scholar." Young as he was, credo insjnratione. "A 
scholar you shall be," replied his father. 

When he was about fourteen years of age, his eldest brother, Andrew, 
requested his father to send him to him to Edinburgh. Accordingly 
he was sent, but for the first twelve months little to his advantau'e, for 
instead of advancing him in his learning, he made him attend his office, 
and write from morning till night, — often without his dinner, — to his 
great disappointment; not through want of affection to his brother, but 
hurry of business and much company. His father, being informed of 
this low or no education, ordered him to be put to school and fitted for 
the University. Andrew lost his slave, and George was once more put 
in the way of being a scholar. 

He took his degree of Master of Arts, in Edinburgh, in ITOit. With 
this feather in his cap he returned home, and became tutor to the Eord 
of May, his son, for which [tutorship] he was allowed ten pounds ster- 
ling per annum, — great wages in that part of the world, and at that 
time of day.f 

[Having some] cash of his own, and somewhat anxious to see Edin- 
burgh again, and taking [leave of his father] the [last time he ever saw 
him], not without some coolness on the son's side, for that the father 
did not add weight enough to his blessing, as the son expected, — and 
even at that time he was not without the thought of foreign countries, 
— I say, taking leave of his father, he proceeded on his journey to 
Edinburgh, and there entered his name among the students of divinity, 
worthy Mr. Meldrum being the professor. There was great hope of 
seeing worthy Mr. George mount the Presbyterian jjulpit, but, alas! the 
closer he a))plied himself to reading, the stronger his aversion grew to 
the party then uppermost in Scotland. He observed the leading men 

* Kci^s, a termination common in Scandinavian geographical names, and signi- 
fying promontory. Sue l)age 6-3. 
f See page G6. 



OF GEORGE READ. 53 

of that side to be sour, censorious, and hypocritical. He could not 
digest the ministers' odd gestures, grimaces, dry mouths, and screwed 
faces in their pulpits. He could not comply with their practices even 
to save him from want of bread. Their " horrible decretum (as Calvin, 
the author of it, calls it) of reprobation" gave him a surfeit of their 
principles, and as to their church-government, he was satisfied, it was a 
spurious brat (the genuine product of Core's rebellion) of proud pres- 
byters [revolting] against their lawful bishops. While he passed 
among the students for an orthodox brother, he was diligently inform- 
ing himself of the principles of the Church of England, which [he] 
approved of so well that he was resolved, as soon as he could find en- 
couragement, to set out for England. Mr. ^Eneas McKenzie, chaplain 
to the Earl of Cromarty, Secretary of State for Scotland, was then at 
London, to whom he wrote on this subject. Mr. McKenzie, [being of 
the] same way of thinking, [answered that] he might depend upon 
[being provided for during the] war, "the least," says he, "you can 
expect." Mr. McKenzie's letter he communicated to his brother, who. 
upon mature deliberation with some of the leading men of the Episcopal 
party in Scotland, procured him a bill of exchange for £18 ll.s. 9(i. 
sterling. • Thus strengthened and provided, and honored with a recom- 
mendation from the Bishop of ICdinburgh, then ousted by the revolution, 
he bid adieu to his native country (after suffering much in the flesh by 
college diet among a set of canting Pharisees), and went to London by 
sea ; and, upon his safe arrival, waited on the Bishop of London, who 
received him very kindly, and ordered him to attend the next ordination, 
at which he and his friend McKenzie, with several other candidates, 
were put in deacon's orders. This happened nine days after his arrival 
at London, which proved no small mortification to the [dominant] 
party at Edinburgh, and triumph to those of the contrary party. 

He was soon promoted to a chaplaincy of eighty pounds sterling [per 
annum] on board a man-of-war. But the captain being a haughty fel- 
low, he soon grew sick of that station, and resolved to quit it as soon 
as he could be otherwise provided for. Returning to London, he found 
his friend McKenzie making application to the Society for Propagating 
the Gospel in Foreign Parts, then newh^ incorporated, lor a mission. 
He was easily prevailed [upon] to join with him in so commendable a 
design. Upon the Society's being satisfied, after full trial of their char- 
acter and abilities, they were both admitted missionaries: McKenzie 
for Slaten, in L'eland, and Ross for New Castle, who arrived there in 
1T08 [and continued], save for a few years, when he removed for his 
health's sake, till this time, being in his seventy-third year. ' How he 
behaved is known from the constant regard [of the Society for him]. 

George Ross. 

Xew Castle, to which Mr. Ross was appointed a missionary of the 
Church of England, has borne more names than any other town in the 
United States. It was called " Sandhoec," " New Anistel," and " Fort 
Kasimer," by the Dutch; "Grape Wine Point," and (in 1675) "Dela- 
ware Town," and (in 1664) "New Castle," by the English. It was laid 
out by the Swedes in 1631, and called by them " New Stockholm." 
The Dutch built Fort Kasimer in 1651. The Dutch West India Com- 
pany, being much indebted to the city of Am.sterdaui and other persons. 



54 LIFE AND COBBESPONDENCE 

to relieve themselves (a.d. 1G56), ceded to that city Fort Kasinier, with 
the territory extendinj; from the Christiana River (including it) to 
Boniba}' Hook, and as far west as the land of the Minquas extended, and 
was formally transferred l)y Governor Stuyvesant, in behalf of this Com- 
pany and the States-General of the iS'etherlands. Immediately after- 
wards the city of Amsterdam sent forth a colony to this territory, 
which was called " New Amstel." In the spring of 1656 a number of 
families from New York migrated to this territory, and the Governor- 
General gave seventy-five deeds for land, chiefly lots in New Amstel, 
upon condition that sixteen or twenty families should settle together for 
safety. This condition was only complied with at Fort Kasimer. This 
was the beginning of New Castle. — HazzarcVs Annals of Fennsi/lvania 
from 1609 to 1682, pp. 220, 227, 228. The Swedish Governor' Pointz 
resisted to the utmost of his power the occupation of the Dutch. He 
fir.st protested against it, and then sent troops to recover possession, 
under Risingh, who took Fort Kasimer by stratagem. In 1655 the 
Dutch Governor Stuyvesant directed an expedition against the Swedish 
territory on the Delaware (seven hundred men in two sloops), who con- 
quered it, destroying its public buildings (the fort at Tinicum included), 
and carried its chief inhabitants to New York, from whence 4hey were 
deported to Holland. The common people, however, were permitted to 
remain, but under the laws of their conquerors. This territory was 
then annexed to the " New Netherlands." It was included in the grant 
of the " New Netherlands" to the Duke of York. In 16T2 New Castle 
was incorporated, its officers being a bailiff and six associates, with 
power to try causes, not exceeding ten pounds, without appeal ; and 
a sheriff to be annually elected, whose jurisdiction was over the town, 
and also extended along the river. The inliabitants of New Castle 
were further granted free trade, without making entry at New York, 
as previously required of them. In this state it continued until in the 
war which ensued l)etween England and the States-General, the "New 
Netlierland" territor}^ was recovered by the Dutch, and again subjected 
to their laws, but for a brief period; for, at the termination of this war, 
the "New Netherlands" were exchanged, b}^ an article of the peace of 
Breda, for Surinam, in 1667. From that time the three counties on 
Delaware were held and governed as an appendage to New York. 
William Penn landed at New Castle in 1682, assembled the inhabitants 
at the court-house, made them a speech, and was received with joyful 
acclamation. Possession of New Castle and "the three lower counties 
on Dehuvare" was symbolically delivered by handing him " turf and 
water."* 

Gabriel Thomas, in his "Account of Pennsylvania," a.d. 1697, 
states, " both in Philadelphia and New Castle there are curious wharves 
and large and fine timber-yards." In 1699 Penn returned to Pennsji- 
vania after an aljsence of fifteen years, and remained there two years, 
during wliich one hundred laws were passed, the Legislature sitting, to 
please the lower counties, chiefly at New Castle. In 1708 James Logan 
states some reasons why New Castle did not prosper, and was tiot more 
considerable then than thirty years before, — to wit, the unhealthiness of 
the place, and disorderly way of living which prevailed, — the Finns 

* Watson's Annals of Phihidolphia, pp 9, 10, IG, 4-5, 4G, 85. 



OF GEORGE READ. 55 

and Dutch there being- addicted to drinking spirituous liquors overmuch ; 
but as he charges the "lower counties" with having designed and 
effected a separation from Pennsylvania, with a view to divert the trade 
of Philadelpliia, in part, to New Castle (in which they failed), evidently 
looking upon her, as a would-be-rival of his city, with no friendly eye, 
prejudice may have exaggerated both the unhealthincss and intemper- 
ance he attributed to her. 

The following extract from Hawkins's " History of the Society for 
Propagating the Gospel in Foreign Parts" (pp. 118, 119, 120) furnishes 
the history of the tirst period of Mr. Ross's mission : " Another rising 
town in Pennsylvania, which the Society determined to furnish with a 
clergyman, was New Castle, originally built by the Dutch, and contain- 
ing a population of 2500. The Reverend George Ross was accordingly 
sent there in 1705. There, as elsewhere, the proportion of churchmen 
was inconsiderable, the Presbyterians having a meeting in the town, 
and the Anabaptists another in the country. His congregation was 
principally made up of those who came a considerable distance to 
church, some above twelve miles, seldom missing, zealous men, and of 
substantial piety. A church was built by the contributions of several 
gentlemen in the place, — a fair and stately building, and one of the 
largest in the government.* After he had been about three years in his 
mission, whether from the unhealthincss of the situation or the little 
encouragement he received, with both of which he was dissatisfied, Mr. 
Ross left New Castle and went to Chester, from whence the Reverend 
Mr. Nichols had withdrawn. This liberty of changing their stations, 
which this and other of the early missionaries assumed, is here men- 
tioned as furnishing a practical proof of the detriment which the infant 
church in the Colonies suffered for want of a presiding head. The only 
step which the Society could take was to suspend their stipends. Mr. 
Ross went home to vindicate his conduct before the Society, and after 
a full inquiry into all the circumstances of the case was restored to his 
charge. On his voyage back to America, he was taken prisoner l)y a 
French man-of-war (February 11th, IHI), and carried into Brest, 
' where,' he says, ' I, as well as others, was stripped of all my clothes 
from the crown of my head to the sole of my foot ; in a word, I was 
left as naked as when I was born, and that by means of the greedy 



* "August 1st, 1703, Sunday. — I preached at New Castle on Hebrew.^, v. 9, and 
had a large auditory of English and Dutch. They have luid a chiirch lately Imilt, 
and the lieverend Mr. Eoss, a missionary from the honorable Society, has lately 
been sent to them."— Joz«-?j«i f/f George Keith, Missionary, p. 42. " In Pennsylva- 
nia, upon our arrival there (11th January, 1700), there was but one Church of 
England congregation settled; now, blessed be God (June 8th, 1704), there are 
five, — viz., at Philadelphia, Chester, Frankfort, New Castle, and Appoquiniuiy." 
— Ibid., pp. 47, 50. 

"1 preached at New Castle the beginning of December la'st, where I found a 
considerable congregation, considering the generality of the people were gained 
over from other persuasions. Their minister, the Reverend George lloss, is 
esteemed a person that is ingenious and well-learned, as well as sober and prudent, 
and I doubt not but, by the bh'ssing of God upon his good endeavors, the church 
at New Castle will continue to increase." — Memorial of the Reverend. Evan Evans, 
Missionary at Philadelphia, submitted by the Bishop of London to the Society 
for Propagating the Guspel in Foreign Parts (a.d 1707), cited in Hawkins's His- 
tory of the Church of England Missions in North Ajnerica, p. 110. 



56 LIFE AND GORRESPOXDEXCE 

priest who was chaplain of the ship. He perceived that my clothes 
were better than his own, and therefore he never ceased to importune 
his captain till he got leave to change, forsooth, with me, so that I am 
now clothed with rags, in testimony of my bondage.' He W'as ulti- 
mately released, and returned to Chester, in which settlement he reports^ 
there were, by modest computation, twenty Quakers, besides other dis- 
senters, for one true churchman." — Hawkiux^s Hi^iory of Ihe Church of 
EnyJcDid 3[ist<wvi< in North America, pp. 118, 119, 120. 

Mr. Koss continued at Chester* until he was transferred to New 
Castle, entering the second time upon the charge of the church tliere 
(29th Aujrust, 1714. — Minutes of ttie Yestry of Immanuel Church, 
New Castle. Delaware, p. 5). The following proceedings of the 
Vestry of this Church appear on their minutes (page 7) of their 
meeting 2Gth October, 1714, the Vestrymen present being Jasf)er 
Yeates, Josei)h Wood, Gunning Bedford, John Land, John Ogle, and 
Richard Clark ; and the Wardens Richard Halliwell and James Robi- 
son : "A letter from the Honorable the Society for Propagating the 
Gospel, etc., directed to the Rev. George Ross, was laid before the 
Vestry, by which letter it appeared the Society were pleased to appoint 
the said Mr. Ross to serve the cure at New Castle as their missionary, 
with the salary of twenty pounds per annum. Which appointment 
being well liked of by the Yestr\', the}' unanimously agreed, for the 
fui'ther encouragement of the said Mr. Ross, their minister, that he 
should be eased of the burden of house-rent during his ministr}- among 
them ; and that, if the subscriptions for his support should exceed the 
sum of forty pounds, the overplus shall be supplied to the payment of 
his house-rent. It was further agreed, that in case the said overplus 
should prove too inconsiderable to defray the said charge, then the said 
rent should be paid out of the collections at the sacrament, and at the 
church-door." 

The history of George Ross, and his mission is brought down to a 
later period of it than the foregoing one by the following extract from 
Hum]»hrevs's " History of the Society for Propagating the Gospel in 
Foreign Parts," pp. 15^, 156, 166, 167: 

" New Castle, the capital of the county of that name, is finely seated, 
standing high upon the Delaware. This county is the uppermost of 
the three lower. New Castle, Kent, and Sussex, which run 120 miles 
along the coast, and are about 30 miles deep towards Maryland. These 
counties comprehend all the marshes on the great bay of the Delaware, 
as commodious and fertile as any in the world. The town was first 
built and inhabited by the Dutch, and called ' Amstel,' from the river 
which gives name to Amsterdam, in Holland. It is a large place, con- 
taining about 2500 souls. The Reverend George Ross was appointed 
missionary here in 1705 by the Society. He was received with great 
kindness by the ijihabitants, and had a very regular congregation. Not 
only the people of the town, but a very considerable number of the 
country-people, though they lived a good way off the town, some above 

* "Mr. ru)>> came frdin New Castlo and otficiatcd at Chester, at the people's 
desire, and was very iiKluslrious and aeeeptable to them. However, the Society 
did not eontinue liirn tlu^re, thoutrh lie liehaved liiniself entirely to their satisfae- 
tivn. "—JIir))ij)/irci/s's JJisfoi-)/ cf the Sociciy for Fropayating tlie Gospel, p. 414. 



OF GEORGE BEAD. 57 

twelve miles, yet seldom missed cominf^ to church when there was no 
sermon in the country. The congregation has continued still increas- 
ing through Mr. Ross's assiduous care. He extends his labors further 
to the churches at Appoquinimy and White-Clay Creek. The latter, 
indeed, is reckoned as a chnnpl-of-ea^;e to his own church ; the other, a 
distant cure. When Appoquinimy had no missionary, he used to 
preach on two Sundays at New Castle, once a iiiouLh at Appoquinimy, 
and once at White-Clay Creek. This, truly, was a very painful service, 
but he performed it with a willing mind, and good success. Sometimes, 
however, he did represent to the Society that the people of New Castle 
seemed to lay claim to all his services, and to take it somewhat amiss 
when he was employed abroad on Sundays; and adds, '1 would not 
willingly disoblige them, nor yet see, if I could help it, the church at 
Appoquinimy, which is as frequent[ed] as that at New Castle, quite 
destitute and forsaken.' Indeed, the people of New Castle have showed, 
from the beginning, a due regard to their worthy minister, and sub- 
scribed voluntarily to him about forty-eight pounds per annum, and 
some other benefactions have been made to the church; particularly 
Mr. Richard Ilalliwell, a gentleman of piety and virtue, made a bequest 
as follows : ' I give and bequeath unto Immanuel Church, standing upon 
the "green," in the town of New Castle, the sum of 60 pounds, due to me, 
over and above my subscription, towards building thereof, liem. — 1 
also give and bequeath all my marsh and plantation, situate near the 
Broad Dyke of the town of Burlington, containing and laid out for 67 
acres of land and marsh, together with all the houses, and orchards, and 
other improvements, to the proper use and behoof of the mini.-rer that 
shall from time to time serve the said Immanuel Church forever.' Mr- 
Ross has continued in this mission until the present time, irreprovable 
in his conduct, and very diligent in his labors, which he has not only 
employed in his own parish, but in several other places occasionally, 
and very much to the satisfaction of the people where he officiated. 

"In August, 1717, Colonel William Keith, the Governor, n-solving 
to visit the lower counties, the Reverend Mr. Ross, missionary at New 
Castle, was invited to accompany him. Mr. Hoss very readily em- 
braced this kind invitation, hoping i>y tliis opportunity to make himself 
acquainted with the state of the church tliere, and in some measure 
supply her present wants by his ministry. He embarked with the 
Governor, and several other gentlemen, at New Castle, and set sail for 
Lewistown, in Sussex County, which lies upon one of the ca{)es of the 
river Delaware, and in two days arrived there. On the 7th of August 
he preaciied before the Governor and Justices of the county, in the 
court-house of the county, and had a very numerous audience of the 
people, who appeared very serious, and desirous of the sacraments of 
the church ; and he baptized that day thirty children that were brought 
to him. On the 9th of the same month Mr. Ross preached again before 
the Governor and other gentlemen, had a large audience of the people, 
and baptized twenty-one children. On the 10th the Governor lett this 
place in order to go to Kent County. Mr. Ross set out before him to a 
place of worship about sixteen miles from Lewis. It is a small build- 
ing erected by a few well-disposed persons, in order to meet together 
there to worship God. Mr. Ross preached once here, and baptized 
twenty-live children and several grown persons. On the Sunday follow- 

5 



58 LIFE AND COBRESPONDENCE 

ing he preached to a very large congregation in the upper parts of this 
county, where the people had erected a fabric for the church, which 
was not quite finished. Here he baptized twenty-six children, so that 
the whole number of the baptized, in one week's stay among this people, 
amounted to one hundred and two. 

"Mr. Ross observes thus to the Society: 'By this behavior of the 
people, it appears plainly they are truly zealous for the Church of Eng- 
land, though they have had but few instructions from some clergymen 
passing through these parts, and some visits from the Reverend Mr. 
Adams of Maryland.' As the Governor returned home through Kent 
County, Mr. Ross attended him, and preached before him and the 
magistrates on the 14th of August. He had a very full congregation, 
and baptized thirteen children and one grown person. In April follow- 
ing (1718) Mr. Ross resolved to make a second visit, by himself, to the 
people of Sussex County. He was so much pleased with his former suc- 
cess among them, that he was desirous to improve further the good dis- 
position of the people. lie went to Sussex County, continued there six 
days, preached on every one of them, at different places, and baptized 
one hundred, seven of whom were of an advanced age. Lastly, he 
opened there a new church, which the poor people had built, notwith- 
standing so great a discouragement as their having no minister. 

" Mr. Ross sent this account of his labors in these two counties to 
the Society in the form of a journal, and the missionaries of this colony 
made a full representation of the state of the church in those jjarts. 
The Governor was further pleased to write a letter to the Society, and 
to transmit several api)lications made to him by the clergy, relating to 
the church affairs, and a copy of the above-named journal of Mr. Ross. 
His letter runs thus: 'According to my duty, I presume to lay before 
you the application of your missionaries, the clergy of this Province 
and neighborhood, relating to the church here, and also a copy of the 
Reverend Mr. George Ross's journal of his services done in the coun- 
ties of Kent and Sussex. It is a great satisfaction to me that I can 
assure this venerable board of the great ])ains and diligent care which 
the reverend gentlemen, within named, take in all the parts of their min- 
isterial function ; and herein I cannot but in justice particularly recom- 
mend Mr. Ross's capacity, pious and exemplary life, and great industry 
to your favorable notice and regard. But I must observe that the duty 
here increases daily at such a rate, and the laborers are so few, that 
without your pious and immediate care to relieve and supply this lan- 
guishing but valuable branch of the church, all our endeavors will be 
to no purpose.' " 

The following rough draft of a letter from Mr. Ross to the Reverend 
Mr. Bear(!roft, preserved among Mr. Read's papers, carries the reader 
forward to an advanced period of Mr. Ross's life and mission. 

The North American colonies had just been stirred, by the wonderful 
eloquence of Whitedeld, to an unwonted and earnest attention to reli- 
gion, with the great admixture of fanaticism and extravagance, that 
have been too often the concomitants of such revivals. Effects — the 
results of mere human instrumentalities — of questionable character as 
to their propriety, were, with strange ill judgment and shocking impiety, 
ascribed to the Divine Spirit, and that without waiting to have them 
tested by time. This marvellous excitement, which had passed from 



OF GEORGE BEAD. 59 

man to man with something- of the rapidity with which fire spreads in 
the dry grass of our vast prairies, reached Mr. Ross's parish, where 
this man of God had been so long- doing- his Master's work, by his 
Master's appointed means, dilig'ently, unremitting-ly, and soberly ; and 
his picture of its evils, though dark, is not overcolored. 

" New Castle, August f>i\\, 1740. 

"Reverend Sir, — Your agreeable letter, of the 11th of March last, 
came safe to my hands, and very opportune!}'-, too, when our northern 
levies began to be carried on for prosecuting the intended expedition 
against the Spanish West Indies. I say opportunely, because vour let- 
ter proved the happy means of preventing my son [^Eneas] from en- 
gaging in this hazardous attempt. His patience was quite spent, and 
he was resolved to push his fortune by the sword, since he saw no 
probability of coming at the gown by his frequent application. He is 
now making ready for his voyage, and would have crossed the seas in 
the ship by which I send you this, had we [received] timely notice of 
her altering- her first-appointed course. In the mean time, if a vacancy 
happens, you will remember him, I hope, that his stay in London may 
not be long, or prove too heavy for me. 

" The church here enjoys a profound calm after being threatened with 
a mere tempest of enthusiasm. We felt this storm in this village* in 
its decline. When its fury was almost spent, I was never so much 
astonished as when I saw the fluctuating humors of our people ; the 
sea indeed roared, and the waves were so exceeding high that to face 
them was present shipwreck. I stood amazed, and dreaded the conse- 
quences of so unexpected a shock. But he that thus stirred up the 
people, and inflamed them against the missionaries with the most 
opprobrious language, — I mean the mischievous Mr. Whitefield, — lost 
himself, and ruined his credit with thinking people by his malicious 
letter against Archbishop Tillotson, and by his weak but ill-natured 
attack upon the author of the ' Whole Duty of Man.' ' The storm is not 
quite allayed at Philadelphia, where I bore my testimony in a sermon 
preached against the proceedings of this indefatigable impostor in gown 
and cassock. When he could or would not stay longer in these quar- 
ters, he deputed two or th'-ee fiery Presbyterians to pursue his game, 
whose assiduity terminated at last in distraction in some, in chains in 
others; despair in some, in extremo articulo and laying violent hands 
on themselves in others. These were some of the sad effects of what 
the party call convictions, — but in truth diabolical possessions. The 
main incendiary, 'tis expected, will return into these parts ere long, but 
his principles, pride, and spite are so fully discovered, and particularly 

■* " On Thursday last the Reverend Mr. Whitefield left this city, and was 
accompanied to Chester by about one hundred and fifty horse[men], and preached 
there to about seven thousand people. On Friday he preached twice at Witling's 
Town [Wilmington] to about five thousand, and on Saturchnj, at New Castle, to 
about tv>o thousayid five hundred, and the same evening, at Christiana Bridge, to 
about three tliousand ; on Sunday, at White-Clay Creek, he preached twice, rest- 
ing about half an hour between the sermons, to about eiglit thousand, of whom 
three thousand, it is computed, came on horseback. It rained most of the time, 
and yet they stood in the open air." — Franklin's Pennsylvania (?aze^^e, published 
in Philadelphia, 1739. 



GO LIFE AND CORBESPONDENCE 

his amassing such vast sums, and therewith supporting a company of 
young fellows and gadding young women, who followed him to Georgia, 
instead of applying the charities for his little Orphan-House to their 
proper end, has given so general offence that I am persuaded his con- 
duct in this point will sink his credit as fast as his plausible talent for 
haranguing the populace has raised him in the opinion of the giddy 
multitude. Some in my congregation l)ecame unsettled, among others, 
in running and flocking after our new preacher, and when the sacrament 
was celebrated here, in those hurrying days, I had not above half of my 
usual number of communicants; but, thanks be to God, the snare in 
which they were catched is broken, and they are delivered, and now we 
live in peace and love. My 'notitia,' etc. you shall have by my son, 
who hopes to sail for England some time in September next, or perhaps 
sooner. 

"I am, reverend sir, your truly obliged and humble servant, 

"George Ross." 

The last memorial of Mr. Ross, among Mr. Read's papers, is the 
letter, which follows, to the first husband of his daughter Gertrude, 
whose second husband was Mr. Read. When this letter was written, 
Mr. Ross's long and useful life was drawing to its close, and he was 
about to realize (we may hope, from his faithful discharge of his duties 
as a minister of the Gospel) the glorious promise that they who turn 
many to righteousness shall shine as the stars forever. 

" New Castle, Octoter 29th, 1752. 

"Dear Son, — When I received your affectionate letter, and that of 
your dear spouse, I was in a very low state of health; but the ease and 
comfort I had in the many very kind expressions in both your letters, 
are only to be felt. Please, therefore, to accept my most hearty thanks 
for so seasonable a relief in my most dangerous illness. In point of 
affection you cannot exceed 

" Your most loving and obliged 

" George Ross. 

"I am just recovered from a quartan ague, which, had it continued 
much longer, I believe would have carried me off; but, by the blessing 
of God, and the endeavors of your brother Jacob, I am recovering. 

"Mr. I. Till, Prime Hook, Sussex County, Delaware." 

George Ross died in 1754, in the seventy-fifth year of his age. No 
stone marks his grave. He was twice married, and had thirteen chil- 
dren. Among the children by his second wife, Catherine Van Gezel, 
were George, a signer of the Declaration of Independence; Gertrude, 
wife of Geoi*ge Read; and Catherine, who married General William 
Thompson. 

The tomb of his first wife, Joanna Williams, of Rhode Island, near 
the eastern gable of Immanuel Church, bears this inscription, no doubt 
written by Mr. Ross: 

" Memor virtutum Johannse, conjugis, honesto genere natae, hoc 
sepulchri monumentum Maritus, Georgius Ross, Evangelii Praeco, ex- 
truendum curavit. Anno acquievit ilia aetatis trigesimo septimo, 29th 
September, 1726. 



OF GEORGE READ. 61 

" Dixit ei Jesus ' quisquis vivit et credit in me non morietur in eter- 
num.' 

"Calcanda seniel via lethi." 

A few feet from this tomb is the monument of the Reverend Walter 
Hackett, the first husband of Margaret, daughter of George Ross, 
whose second husband was the Reverend Mr. Curry, of Philadelphia. 
This monument is thus inscribed : • 

"Sub hoc cippo conduntur reliquiae Reverendi Yiri Gualteri Hackett, 
qui titulo Missionary insignitus, pastoritium munus, apud Appoquini- 
meusis, circiter quinquenium feliciter exercuit. 

" Natus Fraserburginm, Bamff, Scotise Provincise, ex vetusta ac gene- 
rosa familia Hackett ortus. 

" Fuit vita incorrupta, ingenio leni pectore, fido in officio, fungendo 
summa industria. 

" Multis ille flebilis bonis occidit,* null! fiebilior quam charce conjugi, 
qui in niemoriam diyni viri hoc monumentum sepulchri condere libuit. 

"Obiit nonis Martijs Anno MDCCXXXIIL, JEtatis XXXIII." 

I am indebted to the Reverend John B. Spottswood, D.D., a descend- 
ant of the celebrated Governor Spottswood, of Virginia, for the follow- 
ing translation of this epitaph : 

"Under this stone are buried the remains of the Reverend Walter 
Hackett, who, while a Missionary, discharged, with great success, the 
duties of the Pastoral Office, at Appoquinimy, about five years. He 
was born in Frasersburg, in Bamff, a province of Scotland, and was 
descended from the ancient and respectable family of Hackett. His life 
was blameless: in spirit meek: in office faithful: in labors abundant. 
He died, lamented by many good, but by none more than his beloved 
wife, who is pleased to erect to the memory of her worthy husband this 
sepulchral monument. He died March 7th, 1733, aged 33 years." 

There are extant the following pictures of the Ross family: 

No. 1. 

A picture of the Reverend George Ross, painted in wig, gown, and 
band, seated, with an open volume before him, doubtless the blessed 
Gospel, of which he was so able and faithful a minister; his face oval, 
eyes hazel, complexion florid, features regular, and sufficiently strong to 
indicate the intelligence and energy, which were certainly his, without 
the harshness, not to say homeliness, of the Scottish physiognomy. 
The gravity expressed by the countenance seems to me to have been 
from a sense of the sacredness and dignity of his profession, superin- 
duced over a natural hilarity of temper and humorousness which lurk 
under it, and over which it with difficulty holds the mastery. It does 
not appear by this picture when and by whom it was executed, but, as 
it represents Mr. Ross of about middle age, it must be, I suppose, at 
least one hundred and thirty years old. It is in good preservation and 
well painted. 



* " Multis ille bonis flebilis, ocoidit, 

NuUi flebilior, quam tibi, Virgili." — Q^uinti Horaiii Flacci Opera, 
Ode 24, ad Vlrg'dhnn, de Morte (^uinctilii Vari. 



62 LIFE AND CORBESPON'DENGE 

Nos. 2, 3, and 4. 
Nos. 2 and 3, portraits of John Ross* and his Avife Elizabeth ;f No. 
4, another picture of John Ross, — all well painted and in good order. 

Nos. 5 and 6. 
Portraits of Catherine and Marg-aretta, daughters of John Ross, 
painted by Alexander, a Scotch artist, who visited the North American 
colonies about the middle of the last century, and was the first master 
of Gilbert Stewart. Catherine, J in the rich, full dress of her day, 
thinking perchance of her bird, her lover, or her flowers, unconsciously 
touches the keys of the harpsichord by which she is standing; and 
Margaretta, a comely girl, with hair dark as the raven's plume, and 
eyes of deepest blue, points to an urn, with this inscription : " Marga- 
ritta Ross, obiit 20th August, 1766, JEt. 19. — ' Si queris animan meam, 
respice coelum, si forman en est.'" 

Nos. 7 and 8. 
Portraits of Joanna, first wife of George Ross, and her brother Jaco- 
bus Williams, — pronounced by judges of pictures to be fine ones, and 
in the style of Sir Godfrey Kneller. As he had a pupil Hesselius,§ 
who resided near Annapolis, Maryland, he may have executed these 
portraits. The bearing of Joanna is queenly, her drapery very taste- 
fully disposed, and the sad exi)ression of her large, dark eyes betokens, 
perhaps, presentiment of her early death. 

Nos. 9 and 10. 

Pictures of children. No. 9, a portrait of Margaret Ross, wife of 
the Reverend Mr. Hackett; and No. 10, of John, son of Mr. Ross's 
eldest son David, who died while a missionary of the Church of Eng- 
land, at Albany, New York, evidently both executed by the painter of 
Nos. 1 and 8. 

No. 11. 

Portrait of Catherine, daughter of George Ross, and wife of General 
William Thompson, which was sent to my mother from Chambersburg, 
Pennsylvania, upon the death of Mrs. Thompson there, in 1808, is that 
of a very young and handsome girl, of oval countenance, and delicate 
and regular features, with black eyes and hair, her dress very much in 
the style of the present time. She holds in one hand a peach, and in 
the other a flower, and her attitude is stiif and ungraceful. In the back- 
ground of this picture is the faint outline of a Grecian temple, and its 
coloring, still unfaded, must have been originally very good. The tradi- 
tion in my family has been that this picture was painted by Benjamin 
West before he went to England, at the house of her uncle, George 
Ross, Lancaster, Pennsylvania, where she, being not more than sixteen 
years of age, was on a visit, and West was engaged in taking the por- 

* Obiit Stli May, 1776, aged sixty-one. 
t Ohiit 7th October, 177G, aged sixty-two years. 

j Wife of Captain Gurncy of the British army, died 27th August, 1782, aged 
thii-ty-two years. 

g Encyclopiedia Americana, article " C. W. Pealc," vol. ix. p. 591. 



OF GEORGE READ. 63 

traits of his family. This tradition is confirmed b\' the following extract 
from " The Life and Studies of Benjamin West prior to his Arrival in 
England," compiled by John Gait, from materials furnished by himself, 
pp. 47, 48 : 

" Among the acquaintances of Mr. Flower (the early friend of West) 
was a Mr. Ross, a lawyer in the town of Lancaster, a place at that 
time remarkable for its wealth, and which had the reputation of possess- 
ing the best and most intelligent society to be then found in America, — 
capable of appreciating the merit of essays in art. The wife of Mr. 
Eoss was greatly celebrated for her beauty, and she had several children 
so remarkable in this respect as to be objects of general notice. One 
day, when Mr, Flower was dining with them, he advised his friend Mr. 
Ross to have their portraits taken, and mentioned that they would be 
excellent subjects for young West. Application was, in consequence, 
made to old Mr. West, and permission obtained for the little artist to go 
to Lancaster for the purpose of taking the likenesses of Mrs. Ross and 
her family. Such was the success with which he executed this task 
that the sphere of his celebrity was greatly enlarged, and so numerous 
were the applications for portraits that he found it difficult to satisfy the 
demands of his admirers." 

As West embarked for Italy in ITfiO, and never returned to the United 
States,»this picture Avas painted before that year. 

No. 12. 

A picture, it is supposed, of the Reverend ^neas Ross, in possession 
of William T. Read.* 

No. 13. 

A picture, it is supposed, of George Ross, the signer of the Declara- 
tion of Jndependence, but certainly of one of the sous of the Reverend 
George Ross. 

After George Ross withdrew from New Castle to Chester, the 
Reverend Robert St. Clare was appointed missionary to New Castle, 
and on the 26th day of July, 1710, presented his credentials to the 
members of Immauuel Church, and was received by them " with all 
due respect and satisfaction." — 3linutes of the Vestry of Immanuel 
Church, p. 1. 

The first Minute of the Yestry of Immanuel Church is dated 7th 
August, 1710. — Ibid. A letter was addressed by this body to the 
Bishop of London, November 6th, 1710, as follows: 

" Right Reverend Father in God, — We, the Yestry and Church- 
Wardens of Immanuel Church, in the town of New Castle, Delaware, 
being truly sensible of your Lordship's fatherlj' care in various consid- 
erable instances and on all opportunities manifested towards us, now 
humbly entreat your Lordship's favorable acceptance of our repeated 
thanks, and crave leave to express our dependence upon j'our Lordship's 
favor for our church's further growth and support, and would particu- 



* Of these pictures, Nos. 1, 4, 5, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, and 13 are in po.'^.'.'jssion of 
W. T. Read, and the others of J. M. Kead, Esq., Philadelphia. 



64 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 

larly, at this juncture, submissively implore your Lordship's patience 
with us while we lay before you those difficulties and disadvantao^es we 
some time have, and still do labor under, by reason of the late and 
present disregard of our now Lieutenant-Governor, which has been, and 
now is, to the encouragement, if not support, of the dissenting Presby- 
terian interest, whose conventicle he so far countenanceth as to build a 
pew therein, to which he hath resorted; and they, under his Honor's 
umbrage, use the common bell of our town according to their own con- 
venience, and many times interfering with those stated times appointed 
by our minister, the Rev. Mr. St. Clare, for our public assembling to 
divine worship.* Moreover, not to insist upon his Honor's refusal to 
subscribe anything for the encouragement of our minister, though hum- 
bly requested thereto by some of us, his Honor has been very lately 
pleased to disown our Vestry, and discouraged their sitting, to concert 
what might be for the advantage of our church, merely because such 
persons as his Honor was pleased to nominate for vestrymen were not 
chosen, so that our proposed measures are not likely to have that good 
effect that might be expected. Yet furthermore we humbly lay before 
your Lordship our deplorable want of encouragement for the education 
of our children in this town, where there are sundry inhabitants and 
children, but what by reason of our lamentable divisions, and the 
poverty of many, no one master, who is capable of being truly service- 
able in good literature, will come or stay among us; whereas, were 
there the additional advantage of a stated stipend from England, we 
should be forthwith provided ; wherefore, we earnestly solicit your 
Lordship's influence upon the Honorable Society for a certain annual 
salary to such a person as we shall find proper for that service. Thus, 
may it please your Lordship, having laid before you our too unhappy 
difficulties, in hopes of having them in due time, by your Lordship's 
means, removed, and to receive from your Lordship such further injunc- 
tions and spiritual advice as your Lordship, in your fatherly wisdom 
and consideration for us, may tiiink further meet and necessary for us, 
and most heai'tily wishing, and earnestly praying, for your Lordship's 
health and happiness, we humbly subscribe ourselves to be, as in duty 
bound, your Lordship's most obedient, very humble servants, 

" Robert St. Clare, Minister. Samuel Lowman, 
Richard Halliwell, James Robinson, 

Joseph AVood, Thomas Ogle, 

Richard Clarke, John Cann."| 

* " "Which bell furiaerly belonged to the Dutch while they had the control, but 
upon the surrender of their autlK)rity, was transferred to the English, and ordered 
to be used by our church by the Hon. Mr Evans, our late Governor, which we 
humbly beg may be continued to us, the right of it being, we humbly suppose, 
in her Maje.-^ty'' 

f This Lieutenant-Governor, against whom were made such grave complaints, 
was Cok)nel Gookin, of whom I find this notice in "Watson's Annals of Phila- 
delphia," p. 355: " Colonel Gookin disappointed Penn and his t'riends, on account 
of his conduct during a considerable pari of his administration. He was much 
under the influence of his brother-in-law, Birmingham. At one time he removed 
all the justices in New Castle Countj' for doing their duty in an action against 
the said Birmingham, thus leaving the county without a single magistrate for 
six weeks. At another tim(>, when the judges of the Supreme Court at New 
Castle would not admit a certain commission of his to be published in court, he 



OF GEORGE READ. 65 

It does not appear from the minutes of the Yestry of Immaniiel 
Church whether or not Mr. St. Clare continued in charge of their 
church during the whole time of Mr. Ross's absence from it, as there is 
no record of their proceedings from March, 1711, to the 26th of Octo- 
ber, 1714. 

As the foregoing letter shows the disadvantages under which Mr. 
Ross's parish was suffering a short time before he returned to it, and 
which, upon resuming his charge in New Castle, he probably still found 
besetting it, its insertion may not, perhaps, be considered irrelevant. 

"On the 28th of July, 1755, the Reverend Clement Brooks presented 
to the Vestry of Immanuel Church, New Castle, Delaware, his creden- 
tials as successor therein of the Reverend George Ross, and resigned 
26th October, 1756." — Minutes of the Vestry of Immanuel Church, 
pp. 44, 45. 

His successor was the Rpverend Mr. Cleveland, who, on his journey 
to Norwich, Connecticut, for his family, to enter with them upon his 
mission, died at the house of his friend. Dr. Franklin, in Philadelphia, 
August lltb, 1757.* The Reverend ^neas Ross was appointed to 
supply his place, and his appointment announced by the Secretary of 
the Society for Propagating the Gospel in Foreign Parts to the Vestry 
and Wardens of Immanuel Church by a letter, dated 3d May, 1758, 
stating that "as his father was long their worthy missionary they ima- 
gine he will, upon that account, be acceptable, and hope he will prove a 
worthy successor to his father." — Minutes of the Vestry, p. 46. 

The Reverend -^neas Ross filled this mission until his decease, in 
the year 1782. 

" The long, low promontory of Tarbat-Ness forms the northeastern 
extremity of Ross-shire. Etymologists derive its name from the prac- 
tice which prevailed among mariners, in the infancy of navigation, of 
drawing their light shallops across the necks of such promontories in- 
stead of sailing around them. On a moor of this headland may be 
traced the vestiges of an encampment which some have deemed Roman, 
and there is a cave among the low rocks by which it is skirted, which, 
according to tradition, communicates with another cave on the coast of 
Caithness. The scenery of Tarbat-Ness is sublime. A wide expanse 
of ocean here encircles a nari'ow headland, — brown, sterile, solitary, 
edged with rocks, and studded with fragments of stone. On the one 
hand the mountains of Sutherland are seen rising out of the .^ea like a 
volume of blue clouds; and on the other, at a still greater distance, the 
hills of Moray stretch along the horizon in a long undulating strip, so 
faintly defined in the outline that they seem almost to mingle with the 
firmament. Instead, however, of contracting the prospect, they serve 
to enhance, by their diminished bulk, the immense space in which they 
are included — space, wide, interminable space! in which he who con- 
sent for one of the judges and kicked him. In truth, his best apology seems to 
have been that he was partially deranged In fact, he afterwards, in 1717, made 
his apoloajy to the Council for several acts by sayins^, ' his physicians know he had 
a weakness in his head,' wliereforo J. Logan remarked to Hannah Penn, 'Be 
pleased to consider how fit he was for the commission he so long wore.' " 

* Annals of the American Episcopal Pulpit, p. 165. 



66 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 

templates it finds himself lost, and is oppressed bj a sense of his own 
littleness, — is at all times the circumstance to which the prospect owes 
most of its power. But it is only during the storms of winter, when 
the firmament, in all its vastness, seems converted into a hall of the 
tempest, and the earth, in all its extent, into a g^nnnasium for contend- 
ing elements, that the ocean assumes its full sublimity and grandeur. 
On the north, a chain of alternate currents and whirlpools howl, toss, 
and rage, as if wrestling with the hurricane. On the east, the huge 
waves of the German Ocean come rolling against the rocky barrier, en- 
circling it with a broad line of foam, and join their voices of thunder to 
the roar of current and whirlpool. Cloud after cloud sweeps along the 
brown promontory, flinging on it their burdens as they pass: the sea- 
gull shrieks over it as he beats his wings agai-nst the gale : the distant 
hills seem blotted from the landscape: occasionally a solitary bark, with 
its dai'k sails furled to the yards, and its topmasts lowered to the deck, 
comes drifting over the foam; and the mariner, anxious, afraid, and 
lashed to the helm, looks anxiously over the waves for tlie headlands 
of the distant haven." — Scenes and Legends in the North of Scotland, 
by Hugh Miller, pp. 260, 261. 

At the time of the Reformation, or near it, the largest salary in Scot- 
land for the principal of a college was thirty-five pounds sterling, with 
board and lodging. The highest bursary was about four pounds ster- 
ling. In 1583 chambers were let in Edinburgh College at forty shillings, 
and two to be in one bed. Rollock, principal of this seminary, was 
allowed forty pounds sterling for salar}^ and one hundred and forty 
pounds (Scotch) for board. The stipends of city ministers were about 
seventy pounds sterling. The fees of Rollock from students were two 
pounds (Scotch) from the sons of burgesses, and three from others, 
but the fee was raised as the pound (Scotch) depreciated. Twenty 
pounds was thought, in 1565, a large benevolence from a rich citizen of 
Edinburgh to Queen Mar^^ The account-book of Archbishop Sharp 
(1663 to 1666) affords information in regard to college expenses in Scot- 
land. His son William, then a student at St. Andrew's, paid for a 
pocket-inkhorn five pence; for candles, four shillings and ten pence ; for a 
pair of arrows, ten pence ; to his regent or tutor, five pounds, nineteen 
shillings, and two pence; for a Virgil, one shilling and four pence; for 
Ovid's Works, six shillings; for a Hebrew Grammar and Psalm-Book, 
two shillings and four pence; and for "Buchanan's Nomenclature," six 
pence. Tlie.'^e sums are given in sterling money. Scotland, anterior to 
the union, having progressed little in improvement and wealth, and her 
circulating medium not much increased, the Scotch pound had probably 
not depreciated, nor charges for board and tuition of students and sala- 
ries of teachers increased, when George Ross, at the close of the 
seventeenth century, was a student at p]diuburgh, and a tutor in Lord 
May's family, so that his salary in that capacity, of ten pounds sterling, 
was not the paltry sum it might, without the foregoing information, be 
thought, but the usual salary of a tutor.* 



* Autobi(i<i-ra]iliy of Mr. James Molville, ^Minister of Kilreiiny, in Fife, and 
Professor of Til oology in tlie Univor.-;ity of St Andrew's; North British Ecview, 
article Baden Powell's Order of Nature. 



OF GEORGE READ. 67 

"New Castle, Delaware, a.d. 1679. 
" Sand-Hoek has always been the princi])al place on the South River, 
as well in the time of the English as of the Dutch. It is now called 
New Castle by the English. It is situated upon the west side of the 
river, upon a point which extends out, with -a sandy beach, affording a 
good landing-place, better than can be found elsewhere on that account. 
It lies a little above the bay, where the river bends, and ruus south 
from there, so that you can see down the river southwardly. The 
greater portion of it presents a beautiful view in perspective, and 
enables you to see, from a distance, the ships come out from the great 
bay and sail up the river. Formerly all ships were accustomed to 
anchor here, for the purpose of paying duties or obtaining permits, and 
to unload when the goods were carried away by water, in boats or 
barks, or by land, in carts. It was much larger and more populous at 
that time, and had a small fort called Nassau; but since the country 
has belonged to the English, ships may no longer come here, or they 
must first declare and unload their cargoes at New York, which has 
caused this little place to fall off very much, and even retarded the set- 
tlement of plantations. What remains of it consists of about fifty 
houses, most all of wood The fort is demolished, but there is a good 
block-house, having some small cannon erected in the middle of the 
town, and sufficient to resist the Indians or an incursion of Chris- 
tians, but it could not hold out long. This town is the capital of 
justice, where the high court of the South River is held, having 
three other courts subordinate to it, from which appeals lie to it, as they 
do from it to New Ytirk, and from New York to England. These three 
minor courts are established, one at Salem, a small village of Quakers, 
newly commenced, on the east side of the river, not far from New Cas- 
tle ; another is at Upland, on the west side, above New Castle, a 
Swedish village ; and the third is at Burlington, a new Quaker village, 
on the east side of the river, above New Castle. New Castle is about 
eighty miles from the falls [at Trenton], and the same distance from 
the mouth of the river or the sea. The water in the river, at New 
Castle, at ordinary flood-tide, is fresh, but when it is high spring-tide 
or the wind blows hard from the southeast, it is brackish ; or if the 
wind continues long, or it is hard weather, it becomes saltish. With a 
new or full moon it makes high water at New Castle at five o'clock. 
The principal persons we have seen are Mr. Moll and his wife, Ephraim 
Herman and his wife, Peter Aldricks and his wife, and Domine Tesse- 
maker."* 

LOTTERIES. 

During the colonial period of our history, the frequent mode in many, 
or at least in several, of the colonies of building and endowing colleges 
and churches was by loiierien. For example, the college of Nassau Hall, 
founded by Presbyterians, had the benefit of two lotteries about the 

* Journul of a Voyage to New York, and Tour in several American Colonies, 
by Jasper Dankers and Peter Sluyter, a.d. 1679-80, pp. 227, 228 From the 
original manuscri])t, in Dutch, found in a bookseller's shop, Amsterdam, by H. C. 
Murphy, and by him translated, and published by the Long Island Historical 
iSociety. 



68 LIFE AND COERESPONDENGE 

year 1765,* and the privilege of drawing a third was granted to it by 
the Puritan State of Connecticut, Init it is uncertain whether or not it 
was ever done.f The steeple of Christ Church, Philadelphia, was fin- 
ished and a ring of bells and a clock purchased for it by a lottery, in 
1752, J and a supplementary lottery in 1753, § which Dr. Franklin pro- 
moted with his great influence. || A petition to the I/Ogislature of the 
Province of Pennsylvania for liberty to draw a lottery, to pay off the 
balance of the debt due for building St. Peter's Church, Philadelphia, 
was authorized by its Vestry in 1765. It was a facile way of raising 
money when it could not be done by direct tax; the burden was self- 
imposed, and the contributor seemed beneficent, when, in truth, he was 
selfish, — in part, at least. No political economist, no moralist, and no 
divine uttered a warning word against the lottery as a costly mode of 
improvement, because raising, besides the sum necessary for its object, 
another for prizes, — as left to be assessed by chance, — as fostering, if 
not creating, a gambling propensity, as tempting to fraud and breaches 
of trust, and a reliance for the attainment of competence or wealth on 
luck instead of industry and frugality. Its results have often been a 
hideous brood of evils, — idleness, penury, drunkenness, dishonesty, 
superstition, despair, insanity, and suicide. Even Dr. Franklin^ failed 
to perceive the latent evils of lotteries. The colonies, looking with 
blind reverence to the mother-country as their pattern in morals and 
manners, found her imperial Parliament for a long period annually 
voting a lottery, as part of the ways and means for the supplies 
granted.** If scruples were ever felt as to the morality of the lottery, 
its object, the benefit of a church or college, was an opiate to conscience. 
If additional evidence of the state of public opinion in the North Amer- 
ican colonies in regard to lotteries were needed, we have it in a proposed 
measure of the Continental Congress in 1776. That body was alarmed 
by the depreciation of the Continental money. Taxation could not be 
ventured, and the resolution of Congress, that all persons refusing to 
take the Continental bills at par should be held enemies of their country, 
failed to arrest the growing evil, as we think the merest tyro in politi- 
cal economy must have anticipated it would do. Other expedients 
were resorted to by Congress, and among them the raising a million 
and a half of dollars by lottery. — MarshaWs Life of Washington, 
vol. iii. p. 421. 

The improved public opinion on this subject has slowly grown up 

* Dr. Green's Historv of Nassau Hall, pp 307, 359, 369. 

t Ibid., p. 306. 

X Historv of Christ Church, Philadelphia, pp. 100, 101. 

§ Ibid., p. 102. 

II If ignorant of this fact, I might have expected to tind a warning to young 
men against adventure in lotteries among Hjo pithv aphorisms of "Poor 
Kichard." 

^ History of Christ Church, Philadelphia, p. 151. 

** For instances of these votes, see 8mo!lett's History of England, vol. i. jip. 
128, 500; vol. ii. pp 17, 17G, 148, 595; and for a later one, European Magazine, 
vol. xli. p. 400, as follows: "The Chancellor of the Exchequer stated the contract 
for the lottery for the service of this year, — advantage to the nation tive hundred 
and fifty-tive thousand pounds, one hundred thousand tickets, at tourteen j)ounds 
eleven sliillings each ; entire sum to be raised, one million four huiulred and tifty- 
five thousand pounds I'' The tirst lottery in England was drawn January lllh, 
15C9, and lotteries were therein abolished a d. 1826. 



OF GEORGE READ. 69 

during the present century, and been sufficiently strong to effect the 
prohibition of lotteries in several of the States of our Union, whilst 
those authorizing them, debauching the morals of their own citizens, 
bring upon their neighbors, besides the usual evils of the lottery, viola- 
tions of their statutes, which impair that great safeguard of communi- 
ties, — reverence of law. The lottery is one form of the lot, and the 
decision by lot is not wrong in se. The lot has been used in ancient 
and modern times, I believe, by all nations for various purposes. The 
application of the lot may be right or wrong according to its purpose 
or consequences. In some instances it prevented evils, or at least in- 
conveniences ; but in the lottery it causes mischief, its opponents hold, 
so great as to outweigh any good resulting from it, and to malce it 
necessary to prohibit it always and everywhere.* 



CAPTAIN THOMAS READ. 

That the name of Thomas Read may justly be placed in the list of 
bold, and skilful, and successful navigators, appears by the following 
extract from the "Life of Robert Morris," volume ii. " Biography of the 
Signers of the Declaration of Independence," p. 431: 

" Mr. Morris made the first attempt to effect what is termed an out- 
of-season passage to China. This passage is effected by going round 
the south cape of New Holland, thus avoiding the periodical winds 
prevalent at certain periods in the China Sea. In prosecution of this 
object the Alliance (ship), Captain Thomas Read, equipped with ten 
twelve-pounders and sixty-five men, sailed from the Delaware on the 
20th of June, 17^7, and arrived in safety on the 22d of December at 
Canton, where considerable inquiries were made by the European com- 
manders respecting the route that had been taken, as it was wholly a 
novel thing for a vessel to arrive at that season of the year. As no 
ship had ever before made such a passage, great astonishment Avas 
manifested, and the Lords of the British Admiralty subsequently ap- 
plied to Mr. Morris for information as to the track of the siiip. It is 
said that her intended route was traced out by Mr. Morris, with the 
assistance of Mr. Gouverneur Morris." See, also, Encyclopsedia Ameri- 
cana, vol. ix. p. 51. 

* Since writing the above paragraph, I have found tickets, signed Samuel 
Patterson, in the following lotteries: 1st, Newark Land and Cash Lottery, in 
New Castle County ; 2d, New Castle Lottery, for the encouragement of the 
American china manufacture, in 1771 ; and 3d, the Second New Castle on Dela- 
ware Lottery, for the benetit of the United Presbyterian chui'ches in the city of 
New York, the Seceding Church in said city, and the Presbyterian church in 
Eichmond County, in 1772. 



LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 



THE FRIGATE ALLIANCE. 

"The Alliance was the only one of our first navy of the class of 
frigates which was so successful as to escape capture or destruction 
during the war. In 1781 she and the Deane frigate were the onl}^ two 
of our former frigates left in the service. She was in many engage- 
ments, and always victorious. She was a fortunate ship, and a remark- 
ably fast sailer. She could either fight or fly away, — beating her adver- 
sary either by flight or fight. 

" Twice she bore the fortunes of Lafayette across the ocean. When 
presented with a relic of her timbers, he was delighted with it. 

" Her hull, when she became unseaworthy, was for many years 
stretched along Petty's Island, opposite Philadelphia, an object of in- 
terest to passengers on the river Delaware. 

" She was built up the river Merrimac, at Salisbury, Massachusetts, 
and launched in 1778: was I'lb feet long, about 35 feet beam, and 
about 900 tons burthen, and thought to be [too] long [and] narrow, 
shoal and sharp, and [to be] oversparred." — WatHon^a Annals of Phila- 
delphia, pp. 692, 693. 

Thomas Read was appointed a captain and commander in the navy 
of the United States, June 6th, 1776, by Congress, and when their rank 
was settled by resolution of that body (10th October, 1776), he stood 
eighth in the list of these officers, and was assigned to the frigate 
Washington, of 32 guns.* He was at Trenton the day before the battle 
of Princeton, and directed the guns which raked the stone bridge over 
the Assanpink. When appointed to a Continental frigate, he was in 
command of the Montgomery, one of the vessels provided by the Com- 
mittee of Safety of Pennsylvania to defend the Delaware Bay and 
River, and resigned that command to take this appointment, — his resig- 
nation being accepted. He was (29ih JNIay, 1776) chief in command 
of the Pennsylvania fleet. — Forceps American Archives, vol. vi. pp. 
667, 1279. 1698, 1699. 

* Goldsborough's U. S. Naval Chronicle, vol. i. pp. 8, 9. 



OF GEORGE READ. 71 



CHAPTER II. 

Eestriction? on traclo and manufactures of the British colonies of North America 
— Reflections thereon- — Transportation of criminals to America — Duties an 
suijar and other articles — Synopsis of the arn;uments for and against the right 
to tax the British North American colonies without their consent — Opposition 
to the stamp-act, its repeal, and the happy results — Delusive expectations of 
the colonists — Eight to tax them not renounced — Tax on glass, paper, tea, and 
painters' colors, and great alarm it caused — Theories as to the political relation 
of Great Britain and her North A.merican colonies — Mr. Jefferson's and Mr. 
Dickinson's remarks thereon — Troops ordered to Boston — Non-importation 
agreements — Circular letter of Mr. Head recommending one for New Castle 
County — Soon generally adopted — Measures for detecting and punishing viola- 
tiiins of it — Repeal of all duties but that on tea — Drawback to East India 
Company on tea exported to America — Tea exported there, how received and 
treated — Boston port-bill, arguments for and against it — Opposed universally, 
and money given for relief of sufferers from it — Meeting in New Castle County 
for both these olijects, and Mr. Read's share in proceedings — C;iesar Rodney's 
letter informing him of like proceedings in Kent, and proposed ones in Sussex — 
Delegates appointed from Delaware to the Congre.ss held first Monday of Sep- 
tember, 1774— Its meeting and proceedings— Mr. Read a delegate thereto, and 
his letters while attending it — ^Character of the state-papers of the Congress, 
and ditferent opinions as to their elfect— Recommendations of Congress univer- 
sally adopted — No pains spared to make colonists aware of their rights and to 
stir them up to maintain them— Mr. Read one of the Committee in New Cas- 
tle County to receive contributions for the sutferers under the Boston port-bill 
— Nine hundred dollars raised and remitted— Correspondence relating thereto 
— British Parliament dissolved, and state of parties in England — New Parlia- 
ment meets, king's speech, address in reply, hearing refused to the colonial 
agents, Lord Chatham's motion for the recall of troops from Bostt)n and repeal 
of obnoxious act of Parliament, rejected — Massachusetts declared to be in re- 
bellion, and increase of land and naval forces recommended — ^Lord North's 
conciliatory plan — Mr. Burke's — Battles of Lexington and Concord — Congress 
meets 10th May, 1775— Mr. Read a delegate to thi's body — Letters of Mr. Read 
— Capture of Ticonderoga — Proceedings, measures, and state-papers of Congress 
— General Washington elected commander-in-chief — Recess of Congress — 
American army before Boston — Members of Mr. Read's family in the public 
service — Letters of Colonel Thompson — Expedition to Canada — Letter of Major 
Macpherson — His death, and repulse and death of Montgomery before Quebec — 
Letter of Mr. Read — Adjournment of Congress — Appendix A, notice of General 
Thompson — Appendix B, notice of Ethan Allen — Appendix C, notice of Major 
Macpherson — Appendix D, Provost Smith. 

As soon as the North American colonies, conquering 
what would have been to courage, enterprise, and industry 
less than their own, insuperable obstacles, had established 
a commerce, not only considerable, but capable of a vast 
increase, the selfish policy of their parent state sought to 
monopolize their trade and manufactures, and to this end 
subjected both to restrictions. The British Parliament, by 
the act of 12th Charles II., enacted that sugars, tobacco, 



72 LIFE AND COEHESPOXDENCE 

cotton, wool, and other articles, should only be carried to 
England, Ireland, Wales, or other British plantations, from 
the American colonies. But riot content with the monopoly 
of their exports, this nursing mother, as she was pleased to 
style herself, in 1663, by anotlier act of Parhnment, com- 
pelled them to purchase from her merchants and manufac- 
turers every article of foreign production or fabric they 
needed, except salt for their fisheries, wine from Madeira 
and the Azores, and provisions from Scotland. In 1672 a 
further step was taken in this unjust and illiberal system 
by imposing duties on certain productions of the colonies, 
exported from one to the other, thus no longer leaving the 
trade between them I'ree. These acts took from them the 
right to seek the best market for their exports, and of re- 
ceiving directly from the place of production their imports, 
and so burdening them, for the benefit of England, with the 
difference of expense between a direct and circuitous route 
for their trade. In 1750 the erection of mills or other en- 
gines for slitting or rolling iron, or plating-forge for making 
steel, were prohibited, and declared nuisances, to be abated 
by the colonial governors under heavy penalty, within tliirty 
days alter information that they were erected.* "Not a 



' * " Is there in any of the ' acts of trade' the smallest consideration of 
the health, comfort, wealth, growth, population, ag-riculture, manufac- 
tures, commerce, tisheries of the American people ':! All are sacrificed 
to British commerce, manufactures, growth, and domination, and their 
navy used as the best instrument to accomplish this object. Apt scholars 
of Tacitus, whose fundamental principle of philosophy, morality, and 
religion was that all nations and all things were to be sacrificed to the 
.grandeur of Rome." — Adams''s Writings, vol. x. p. 340. 

" Mr. Otis, in his argument against • writs of assistance,' examined 
the ' acts of trade,' and demonstrated that if they were to be considered 
as revenue laws, they destroyed all our security of property, liberty, 
and life, the English constitution, and the charter of Massachusetts. He 
considered the distinction between internal and external taxes at tliat 
time a popular and common[)laL'e distinction, but asserted there was 
no such uistinctiou in theory, or upon any principle but necessity. The 
necessity that the commerce of the empire stiould be under one direction 
was obvious. The Americans were so sensible of this necessity that 
they had connived at the distinction between internal and external 
taxes, and liad submitted to the acts of trade as reguhilions of com- 
merce, and never a.s taxations and revenue laics, nor had the British 
government until then ever attemj)ted to enforce them as such. They 
had been dormant in this character for almost a century. Tite naviga- 
tion act he allowed to be binding on Massachusetts because, by her 



OF GEORGE READ. 73 

hob-nail," said a member of the British Parliament, " should 
be made in America."* This system of monopoly would 
have been intolerable had it been entirely submitted to or 
enforced, but these tjrannieal statutes were disobeyed, as 
far as they could be, without open resistance to authorit}^, 
and evasions of them were winked at. But it would be 
unftiir not to notice the advantages derived by the colonies 
from the parent state. They were encouraired to produce 
new articles, especially those which Britain was obliged to 
import, by bounties, which were allowed on tar, pitch, tur- 
pentine, hemp, raw silk, flax, indigo, staves, masts, and 
yards, it is apparent, for her own benefit rather than theirs, 
though benefited they were. Her protection and assist- 
ance, too, were experienced in her wars, especially the 
French, which extended to them, but which were waged 
not for their benefit but their own security or aggrandize- 
ment. The restrictions upon the commerce and manufac- 
tures of the American colonies Avere alike selfish, illiberal, 
and unjust, but not alike injurious. Where there were vast 
quantities of land to be settled and cultivated, where capital 
was small and labor high, agriculture, not manufactures, 
was the proper because the remunerative occupation. For 
the colonists to become manufacturers, even to the extent 
of supplying their own wants, was an impossibilitj^ They 
possessed neither the capital nor the skill needed for fabri- 
cating machinery. If by miracle, availing themselves of 
their magnificent water-power, they could have erected 
factories upon their streams, and diverted labor into a new 
channel, and provided sufficient raw materials, and manu- 
factured goods, and brought them into market, they ^vould 
have been met and driven out by better and cheaper arti- 
cles. f Every statute of the British Parliament restraining 
or prohibiting manufactures in the American colonies might 

Legislature, she had consented to it. In 1675, after letters and orders 
from the king, Governor Winthrop candidly informed him that the law- 
had been unexecuted because it was thought unconstitutional, Parlia- 
ment having no power to enact it." — \Vrilingii of John Adaim;, vol. x. 
pp. 81 H, 317. 

* This narrow spirit Avas ridiculed by another member of the British 
Parliament, when he said, " The colonists should be compelled by an 
act of that body to send their horses to England to be shod." — John 
AdaniH^s Writings, vol. x. p. 350. 

t Nor could they protect their infant manufactures by high tariff. 

6 



74 LIFE AXn CORRESPOXDENCE 

have been repealed without injury or risk of injury to the 
manufacturers of the mother-country. The enactment of 
these statutes evinced either a strange want of sagacity in 
statesmen of that day or an unw^orthy deference to the nar- 
row views and prejudices of a large, rich, and iuflueutial 
class of their fellow-subjects for selfish ends. The colonists 
could not have become manufacturers, nor was it their in- 
terest, in that stage of their progress, to bec(mie so. For 
almost forty years, after every employment was open to the 
industry, the enterprise, and the capital of the colonists, in 
their new and happj^ condition of citizens of an independ- 
dent country, agriculture and commerce continued to be 
their pursuits.''' The limits of the regal and parliamentary 
authority over the colonies were undefined, and various 
controversies arose.f The colonies, notwithstanding these 

* The transportation of criminals to the colonies was enumerated 
among the wrongs clone them by their unkind parent. But we may, 
with g-ood grounds, deny that it was a grievance. The great want of 
the colonies, as of all newly-settled countries, was population, which a 
little consideration will show this transportation, in a degree, sup})lied. 
At first view it may be thought criminals could be no gain to a com- 
munity, but the burglar, the footpad, the thief, or even the homicide, in 
England, would not necessarily nor probably be such, and, in fact, was 
not such, under circumstances entirely different from those which made 
him a criminal at home. In the colonies he found himself in commu- 
nities industrious, moral, and religious, where labor was in demand, 
wages consequently high, living good and cheap, and therefore without 
the niotives to crime which beset him in the land of his birth; in short, 
it was more to his interest to be an honest man than a rogue, and an 
honest man (with exceptions), by the force of circumstances, he became. 
Sold for no long time, as a servant, the enforced labor and restraints of 
his condition were necessary to put iiini in a right course. His servi- 
tude ended, he was, in a great majority of cases, reformed in morals, 
vigorous, healthy, and industrious; and a few 3'ears more of labor, 
where land was cheap, made him a freeholder. The colonists might 
then well have welcomed the transported criminal to their shores, and 
treated with contempt the taunt that "their Adam and Eve came out 
of Newgate." 

f In nst Lord Granville said to Dr. Franklin, "The king is the 
legislator of the colonies." Franklin replied, "This was new doctrine 
to him. He had always understood from their charters that the laws 
of the colonies were to be made by their Assemblies, to be presented, 
indeed, to the king for his approbation, but that l)eing once given, he 
could not alter nor repeal thi'ui. Twenty years before," he adds, "it 
was proposed by a clause in a bill, brought into Parliament by the min- 
istry, to make the king's instructions laws in the colonies, but this clause 
was thrown out by the Commons, for which the colonists adored them 



OF GEORGE READ. 75 

clogs, wonderfully prospered. Ench year saw new tracts 
of wilderness reclaimed by the hard}' Americans, and new 
seas whitened by the swelling sails of their shipping. The 
treaty of peace signed in Paris in 1763 put an end to the 
Gallic power on the American continent, which, if it re- 
strained England from some stretches of her authority over 
her colonies, also bridled their spirit of independence. With 
this peace came a new policy. The plan of taxing America, 
suggested from time to time by otlicials to difierent minis- 
ters, had never been seriously entertained until, in an evil 
hour for England, a minister, skilled in the details of finance, 
but without tlie comprehensive views of a statesman, of 
which he was incapable, resolved to adopt and execute it, 
piompted by the augmented debt of the nation, the neces- 
sity for new sources of revenue, the difficulty of discovering 
them, and the opposition to every new tax he had proposed. 
In 1764 Parliament, by an act parsed April 5th, continued- 
and perpetuated the duties on sugar, molasses,* and certain 
other articles imported into the North American colonies, 
towards raising a revenue, and enacted that all penalties for 
violations of the acts of trade in America might be re- 
covered in any colonial Vice- Admiralty Court.-j* In 1765, 
March 22d, tlie stamp-act was enacted, as in its preamble 
declared, "to raise further revenue in America." The uni- 
versal opposition to this measure, the proceedings of the 
first General Congress of the colonies, tliose of the colonial 
Assemblies and popular meetings, the newspaper articles 
and pamphlets, so effective in enlightening the people on 
this momentous question, and stirring them to resistance, 
are familiar to my readers, with the non-importation agree- 
ments, the consequent stagnation of trade and clamor 



as their fi-iencls, and the friends of liberty, until from their measures in 
1765 it seemed that they had refused this point of sovereignty to the 
king only that they might reserve it for themselves." — Autobiography 
of Dr. Franklin, Bigelow's Edition. 

* "The tax on molasses*and sugar would raise twenty-five thousand 
pounds, enough to pay the salaries of the governors and admiralty- 
judges of all the colonies." — Adamn's Writingi<, vol. x. p. 349. 

f The judges of these admiralty courts were dependent, and their 
forms of proceedings according to the civil law, without juries, and open 
examination of witnesses, and the publicity of procedure of the common 
law. 



76 LIFE AND COBRESPONDENCE 

against the government, the change of ministry, and repeal 
of the stamp-act.* 

* The following- is a synopsis of the principal arguments urg'ed for 
and an^ainst the claim of Great Britain to tax her North American colo- 
nies without their consent : 

PRO. 

1. The colonies have been planted and nourished by British care and 
indulgence. 

2. Pefended at great cost. 

3. Reasonable, therefore, that they should contribute to the general 
wants of the empire, of which they are a part, and especially aid in 
paying a debt contracted to protect them, and ungrateful in them to re- 
fuse so to do. 

4. The navigation acts, the palladium of British commerce, had been 
relaxed in their favor. 

5. The colonists were virtuaUy represented in the British Parlia- 
ment. 

6. The alleged connection between taxation and representation could 
not stand the test of historical inquiry. 

1. Various taxes had been raised without laws by forced benevo- 
lences, ship-money, etc. 

8. Kepresentation arbitrary, and possessed, actually, by but a small 
part of the British, or any people, while taxation was a part of the 
general power to legislate. 

9. The navigation acts cramped and cut off the colonial trade, and 
the distinction l)etween internal and external taxes was unfounded for 
taxes levied on articles at ports, as much felt as if raised in the interior 
of the colonies, yet the legality of the navigation acts was never ques- 
tioned. 

10. If a practice has long and generally prevailed and not been ques- 
tioned, as a number of precedents proved was true of this, it became 
law and constitution b}^ the very admission. 

llT Various statutes were quoted taxing Chester and Durham with- 
out representation. 

12. If the colonists by migrating did not lose their right to vote for 
members of the British Parliament, yet b}' their own act they have 
made its exercise impossible, and cannot on this ground evade their 
liability to be taxed in common with all British subjects. 

CON. • 

1. If the colonists owed the same allegiance to the king, and subor- 
dination to the Parliament, as the people of Great Britain: 

2. They were entitled to the same |)rivileges, rights, and immunities 
which were confirmed by charters and usage. 

3. No taxes could be imposed on free-born Britons — and such were 
the colonists — without their consent by their representatives. 

4. That the colonists were not, and could not be, represented in the 
British Parliament, — not actually nor virtually. 

5. The perfection of representation is when the delegate is bound, as 



OF GEORGE BEAD. 77 

The stamp-act was repealed. There was the calm, which 
alike succeeds agitation of the elements or human passions. 
Trade resumed its ancient ch:ij|nel. The colonial merchant 
sent his orders home; the British manufacturer, the old 
market restored, again found employment; and along the 
quays of Philadelphia, New -York, and Boston, the chief 

well as the constituent, by the laws he has a share in enacting, and 
suffers equally from mischievous ones; and when this is true, subjects, 
thoug-h deprived of the elective franchise, are still virtually represented ; 
but of a Parliament taxing America this could not be true, since, as it " 
imposed burdens on the Americans, it relieved its own constituents. 

6. The colonists, ex necessitate, have exclusive power of legislation 
in all matters of internal polity, subject only to the royal veto in the 
accustomed manner. 

7". The only representatives of the colonists, those chosen by them- 
selves. 

8. The right "of binding the colonies in all cases whatsoever,''^ if 
conceded, or successfully asserted, would leave them in truth without 
property. 

9 AH supplies of the crown were free gifts, money-bills originating 
in the Commons, being only sent to the Lords for the form of legisla- 
tion, being returned to the Commons to await the royal fint, and the 
king thanking, not the Lords and Commons, but his faithful Commons 
alone, for supplies. 

10. No lapse of time or accumulation of precedents could make that 
just which was unjust, or constitutional which was unconstitutional. 

IL As to Chester, Durham, Wales, and Lancaster, Parliament, by 
giving them representation, most emphatically, in the language of 
Burke, "recognized the equity of not sutfering any considerable district, 
where British subjects may act as a body, to be taxed without their 
own voice in the grant." 

12. If Ireland and Wales have been taxed, and otherwise legislated 
for, without representation, they were conquered countries, and treated 
as such : but Ireland has her Parliament. 

13. The wars, alleged to have been waged for the colonies, were, in 
fact. Great Britain's own wars to preserve or extend her power, and the 
colonists liberally contributetl both men and money to aid in carrying 
them on, and thus compensated whatever benefit they incidentally re- 
ceived; besides being heavily taxed by the burdens and restrictions on 
their trade. 

14. The object of the trade acts was not taxation. The power of 
Parliament to regulate trade was not disputed, because this body alone 
could exercise it, but this tacit assent involved no admission of the right 
to tax the colonies without their consent. 

15. The colonial charters were forfeitable, but only for good cause, 
after hearing in defence, and judgment. The colonies were not merely 
corporations: they were communities, dependent, indeed, but with 
])olitical rights, of which no forfeitures or revocations of their charters 
could deprive them. 



7S I^iFE AND COEEESPONDENGE 

marts'of America, were again heard the cheering sounds of 
business. But were not the colonists rejoicing prematurely? 
Was the solemn declaration % the imperial Parliament, of 
"their r-ight to bind them in all cases whatever," unmean- 
ing? Might they not, at any future session, exercise that 
power to tax them without their consent, which w^ouhl rob 
them of all property in their goods, their chattels, and their 
lands ? Had the eloquence and the logic of Pitt, and Burke, 
and Camden, and Barre wrought conviction in the mind of 
England that this power was at w\ar with the eternal prin- 
ciples of justice and its fimed constitution, or did they still 
hope and purpose to relieve themselves, in part, from their 
burden of taxes by imposing some of it upon their trans- 
atlantic fellow-subjects? These questions were, no doubt, 
put by reflecting men, but the mass of the colonists, ready, 
as men liave ever been, to believe tvhat they wish, con- 
sidered the repeal of the stamp-act the renunciation of the 
claim of right to tax them without their consent, and the 
declaratory act but a salvo for the wounded pride of the 
parent state. 

The Rockingham ministry, by not coupling the repeal of 
the obnoxious stamp-act with the renunciation of this claim, 
lost the opportunity, which was never again presented, of 
removing by this single concession all discontent and all 
distrust. The Grafton administration soon succeeded. The 
act of Parliament laying duties on glass, paper, pasteboard, 
white and red lead, painters' colors, and tea, was passed. 
The colonists were more exasperated by this measure than 
by the stamp-act, and they were more alarmed because 
troops w^ere ordered to Boston to overawe disaffection.'"'' 

* The\^ had to determine on what ground they should rest their cause. 
Mr. Jefferson's theory, which found no advocate, even in Virginia, but 
Chancehor Wythe, was that Great Britain and the coh^nies were co- 
ordinate people, with no tie but that of a common executive, their rela- 
tion being; that of Great Britain and Scotland before their union, or 
that of Great Britain and Hanover after the accession of George I. 
{Writings of Thomas Jefferson, vol. i. pp. 8, 10, 11.) This theory 
was sustained by no facts in the colonial history. Great Britain had 
certainly never legislated, before the union, in restraint of the trade or 
manufactures of Scotland, and not at any period in restriction of those 
of Hanover, while she had monopolized the commerce of the colonists 
from the date of the navigation acts, and almost prohibited their manu- 
factures, and this, too, with their tacit assent, with the ssingle exception 



OF GEORGE READ. 79 

Massachusetts sent forth circulars to all the colonies, .warn- 
ingr them of their dano;er, and a<^ain exhorting them to 



mentioned by Mr. Jefferson of Virginia, when she capitalatecl to the 
Commonwealth, stipulating- for free trade, which stipulation was disre- 
garded. The dissentients to this theory, had it been received, would 
have been numerous, and so the unanimity essential to success would 
have been lost. Happily for his countrymen, John Dickinson, in his 
"Farmers' Letters," had ])ropounded and ably maintained the theory, 
so accordant with the history of the colonial relation to the mother- 
country, and so moderate as not to shut the door to accommodation, 
which, while it denied the right to tax the colonies without their con- 
sent, admitted the power of the parent state to regulate their commerce 
and restrain their manufactures for the benefit of the whole empire, 
provided the acts for so doing should be bona fide for such purpose, and 
not to raise a solid revenue. That this was the proper theory ai that 
stage of the content* there can be no better evidence than the fact that 
it was, with extraordinary unanimity, at once adopted, from Massachu- 
setts to Georgia. The colonies differed so much in their constitutions, 
religion, laws, customs, and manners, their intercourse with and knowl- 
edge of each other were so little, that to unite them in the same prin- 
ciples in theory and system of action was, John Adams tells us, most 
difficult, and its accomplishment wonderful. "Thirteen clocks," he 
adds, " were made to strike together, a perfection of mechanism which 
no artist had ever before effected." — Letter of John Adams, Niles's 
Register, No. 340, 7th March, 1818, vol. xiv. p. 13. 

A compromise on this basis might be proposed, with reasonable hope 
of success, and if rejected, all would be convinced that they must choose 
between an appeal to arms or unconditional submission. However 
strong the array of argument from reason and justice against this the- 
ory, which Jefferson sneeringly calls the half-way house of John Dickin- 
son, the expediency of then adopting it was, I think, manifest. By 
adopting the Jefferson ian theory, the colonists would have lost to their 
cause a party in the mother-country, powerful not from its number but 
the great abilities of its leaders. How does this theory consist with this 
passage from a speech of William Pitt ? " Let the stamp-act be repealed, 
etc. ; at the same time let the sovereign authority of this country over 
the colonies be asserted in as strong terms as can be devised, and be 
made to extend to every point of legislation whatsoever, and it be de- 
clared that we may bind their trade, confine their manufactures, and 
exercise every power whatsoever, except that of taking their money out 
of their pockets without their consent." Pitt's championship, and the 
support of the party of which he was the most renowned leader, would 
have ceased upon the announcement of pretensions so extravagant as 
those holding the above-cited opinion would have considered them. 
Jefferson proposed no better terras of compromise than Dickinson's, — 
th^y were in truth the same. "Place us," said he, in answer to the 
objection that his theory would make void the navigation acts, "place 



* The qviestion being nut wliat ougJd to be the relation of the colonies to the 
mother-country, but wlmt it had been and then was. 



80 LIFE AND COERESPONDENGE 

unite with her in resistance, and, as before, successfully. 
The people rose everywhere in their might, the press was 
active, the colonial Assemblies again remonstrated, and 
resolutions were almost universally adopted by the colonists 
to discourage the use of British manufactures and foster 
their own. There were dissensions between the colonial 
Assemblies and their governors. 

An agreement of the colonists not to import from the 
mother-country was the measure that seemed best calculated 
to extort from her redress of grievances, for to all her mer- 
chants it was injurious, while to many of them it was ruin- 
ous. The export trade of Great 13ritain to her North 
American colonies amounted to six millions of pounds ster- 
ling, being more than one-third of her wdiole exports.'-' 
Might not the colonists be with reason hopeful of the potent 
effect of a measure which would disturb and lessen, if not 
cut off, so rich a traffic? It was, perhaps, impossible to 
convince Great Britain that they were in earnest in their 
opposition to her arbitrary acts, unless they proved their 
sincerity by subjecting themselves to some great privations. 

The following extract from a circular letter, addressed 
by Mr. Read to his fellow-citizens in the lower part of New 
Castle County, explains why the inhabitants of Delaware 
entered into this agreement at a later period than their 
brother colonists. "In the present struggle made for liberty 
by tlie colonists around us I hope this government will not 
be pointed out as unconcerned in the common cause. Hith- 
erto the representatives of the people, in Assembly, have 

us, if Britain will not have the basis of her assumed power scrutinized, 
in the condition we were [in] when George III. ascended the throne, 
and we will be satisfied." This seems to me an abandonment of this 
theory, and but an iinjjotent conclusion from bold premises. When 
Jefferson characterized John Dickinson ''as a lawyer of more in,i;enuity 
than sound jtidg-ment, and still more timid than ing-enious," he did great 
injustice to this eminent man ; and history, I believe, has not ratified, 
and will not ratify, this disparaging opinion. "Jn the Congress of 
1775," Mr. Jefferson, in volume i. of his Writings (p. 8), states that 
"the declaration of the causes for taking up arms" — which he drew — 
"was, out of indulgence to John Dickinson, permitted to be rewritten, 
almost, by him," and adds, "he was .so honest and able that he was in- 
dulged and yielded to by those who did not have his scruples." Which 
of these opinions did Thomas Jefferson really hold? 

* Burke's Miscellaneous Works, vol. ii. pp. 27, i^8. (Boston Edition, 
1806.) 



OF GEORGE READ. 81 

contributed their mite with other bodies of the like kind 
throutih the continent; it now becomes more particuLarly 
the business of the people, in general, to consider their 
present situation, and what may be further done in support 
of measures apparently necessary: I mean the non-impor- 
tation agreements entered into from time to time since the 
last act of Parliament, imposing duties on tea, paper, glass, 
and painters' colors. From our local circumstances it 
seemed unnecessary for the people of this government to 
enter into resolutions of non-importation from the mother- 
country, as we had no traders among us who imported goods 
from Great Britain, except in very small quantities, and in 
vessels belonging to Philadelphia, which was sufficiently 
guarded by the agreement of her own citizens. Lately it 
has been discovered that a few of the traders of that city 
have become tired of what they call virtuous attempts to 
restore freedom to America, and endeavored to dissolve the 
Philadelphia non-importation agreement. One of the prin- 
cipal arguments made use of is the probability of losing the 
trade of this government. They say that the Maryland 
non-importation agreement having excepted many more 
articles of merchandise than that of Philadelphia, the peo- 
ple here will form a connection in the way of trade with 
the Marylanders, introduced by going there to purchase ex- 
cepted articles, which trade may continue after all ccmtests 
with the mother-country are over. This is a plausible and 
forcible argument, and to remove all the weight it may 
have, the inhabitants of the upper parts of this county, 
particularly in and about the towns of New Castle, Wil- 
mington, Christiana, Newark, Newport, and Hamburg 
Landing, have resolved to support the Philadelphia agree- 
ment. It is now in the power of the people of this govern- 
ment to lend a helping hand, and be of real use in the 
general cause. Some of the people of New York have 
deserted it, but, it is thought, will be brought back to their 
duty. To prevent the like accident from taking place in 
Philadelphia, we ought to destroy the argument alleged be- 
fore. Let us be content to confine our trade to its former 
channels; there is our natural connection; let us forego 
some trifling conveniences in hopes of greater advantage; 
resolve not to purchase any goods out of the government 
but such as are excepted in the Philadelphia agreement, 



82 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 

and fall upon some effectual measures to support this 
conduct." 

The agreement recommended by Mr. Read was soon very 
generally adopted. It was dated the 17th day of August, 
1769, and was framed with much ability and vigor. After 
stating, in energetic language, the grievances which com- 
pelled them to co-operate with their fellow-colonists in the 
measures best calculated to invite or enforce redress, these 
patriotic citizens "mutually promise, declare, and agree, 
upon their word of honor and faith as Christians" — 

"1. That from and after this date we will not import, 
into any part of America, any goods, wares, or merchandise 
whatsoever, from any part of Great Britain, contrary to 
the spirit and intention of the agreement of the merchants 
of the city of Philadelphia. 

"2. That we never will have any dealing, commerce, or 
intercourse, whatever, with any man residing in any part 
of the British dominions, who shall, for lucre or any other 
purpose, import into any part of America any article con- 
trary to the said agreement. 

"3. That any one of us who shall wilfully break this 
agreement shall have his name published in the public news- 
papers as a betrayer of the civil rights of America, and be 
forever deemed infamous, and a betrayer of his country." 

It is a curious fact that no measure was devised for de- 
tecting violators of this agreement until nearly a year after 
it had been entered into. Such was the confidence in the 
virtue of the community that an infraction of this compact 
was little, if at all, apprehended. But when the enthusi- 
asm, which gave animation and effect to this patriotic act, 
was, in some measure, abated by the privations — certainly 
not trivial — to which it subjected those who had signed it, 
some individuals basely forfeited their word, their honor, 
and their Christian f nth by violating this solemn pledge. 
Those who led the van of these covenant-breakers were 
shopkeepers; they had not, perhaps, less patriotism than 
other classes of their fellow-citizens, but their virtue was 
assailed by stronger temptations. Nor were they the only 
apostates, for if there were sellers of interdicted merchan- 
dise, there must also have been purchasers. To arrest this 
evil, which threatened the virtual dissolution of the com- 
pact, a measure was adopted as simple as it proved efiica- 



OF GEORGE READ. 83 

cious. On the 4th of June, 1770, Mr, Read expressed 
himself on this subject as follows, in a letter addressed to 
one of his friends: "Several towns in this county have 
chosen two committeemen, each to adopt such resolutions 
respecting trade as the present emergency seems to require. 
They met lately at Christiana, and were unanimously of 
opinion that the Philadelphia agreement should be sup- 
ported, and for this purpose two persons were appointed in 
each town a committee of inspection to ivatcli the trade. The 
duty of these persons is to examine what goods are brought 
into this government, and in case they discover any sales 
by shopkeepers of articles not excepted, to report the same 
to the general committee, who shall determine what shall 
be done thereupon." Mr. Read was elected chairman of 
this general committee. The subordinate committees per- 
formed their duties with such diligence and activity that 
they equalled the agents of the best organized police in the 
discovery of delinquents. Every section of country was 
subjected to a system of espionage so inconsistent with 
American notions of liberty that nothing but the urgency 
of the case, and benefits it produced, could have induced the 
citizens to tolerate it. The adherents of Great Britain 
were too few to shield the violators of the compact from its 
penalties. When information was given against them, they 
generally appeared before the general committee, who in- 
flicted no other punishment than requiring a public declar- 
ation from the offenders of sorrow for the offence, a promise 
not to repeat it, and payment to the committee of the proceeds 
of sales of non-excepted articles for the use of the poor of the 
county. The delinquents, however, were not numerous. 

The prime minister, the Duke of Grafton, proposed and 
urged the repeal of all the duties for raising revenue in 
America; but the British Parliament, considering that this 
total repeal would be the relinquishment of their asserted 
right of supremacy over the colonies, while by the act of 
the 5th of March, 1770, they repealed the other duties, re- 
tained that on tea, in the vain hope that the trilling sum 
thus imposed would be paid, and not yet aware that the 
contest was for a principle the colonists w-ould never sur- 
render, and that they believed the whole property of 
America was involved in this small tax, just as their ances- 
tors did that the whole property of England was in the suit 



84 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 

ngainst John Hampden for twenty shillings; for, they rea- 
soned truly, if Parliament could, on every ounce of tea bought 
by a colonist, levy, without his consent, a tax of even one 
farthing, they might at pleasure take every shilling of every 
man in America. In 1773 was passed the act of Parlia- 
ment allowing the East India Company a drawback on tea 
exported to the American colonies, cargoes of which were 
shipped thither. At Philadelphia and New York it w^as 
not permitted to be landed, at Charleston it was stored in 
damp cellars where it perished, and in Boston harbor it was 
emptied into the sea. Had England then receded, she 
would have been wise and magnanimous; but, listening 
only to the language of passion, she hastened to vindicate 
the outraged dignity of Parliament and the wounded honor 
of the nation. On the 3lst of March, 1774, the bill was 
passed "for discontinuing the lading or unlading goods, 
wares, and merchandises at Boston, and for removing the 
custom-house from thence to Salem," till it should be de- 
clared by the king in council that she had returned to obe- 
dience, and compensation was made for the tea destroyed 
and injury done to private property when it arrived in 
America. Then was passed the bill, assented to by the 
king 10th of May, which subverted the charter of Massa- 
chusetts, giving to the crown the appointment of members 
of the council, and of judges, magistrates, and sheriffs, who 
were authorized to summon and return juries. This bill 
further prohibited the selectmen from calling public meet- 
ings without the consent of the Governor. Then it was 
enacted that should it appear to the Governor that any 
person indicted for a capital offence, the act so charged 
being done in suppressing riots and tumults, who could not 
probably be fairly tried in Massachusetts Bay, might be 
sent to Great Britain, or any other colony, for trial. These 
measures of vengeance were completed by the bills passed 
for quartering soldiers on the inhabitants, and enlarging 
the province of Canada, and changing its government, by 
providing that a council, to be appointed by the crown, 
should exercise all legislative power except that of taxation 
(Roman Catholics being admissible), and by securing tithes 
to their priests, establishing their religion, besides abolish- 
ing trial by jury. 

Bj' the advocates, in the British Parliament, of the 



OF GEORGE READ. 35 

Boston port-bill, it was urged that Boston was selected fur 
punishment, because most guilty. For seven years she had 
been the originator of the seditions which, during that 
period, had disturbed the colonies. She would suffer, doubt- 
less, by this act, but she deserved such and greater suffer- 
ings, as a great delinquent, and could at any time terminate 
this merited punishment by reparations to those she had 
wronged, and return to obedience. The vigorous assertion 
by Britain of her authority over her colonies was necessary, 
for otherwise the seditious might with reason conclude it 
could be set at naught with impunity, and the dependence 
of the colonies would cease at no distant time. It was 
alleged that to fine communities for neglecting to punish 
crimes committed within their jurisdiction, was just in itself, 
and sustained by precedents, — that of the city of London, 
fined in 1640, in the case of Dr. Lamb,* that of Edinburgh 
and Captain Porteous, with which all who have read (and 
who has not?) the "Heart of Mid-Lothian" are familiar, 
and that of Glasgow, whose revenues were in part seques- 
tered, to indemnify a Mr. Campbell for the destruction of 
his house by a mob. The act would require no great force 
to execute it, for a few frigates would suffice. The colo- 
nists would generally approve this just puni.shment, or be 
awed by it to submission; should they not, but, on the con- 
trary, give their s^-mpathy and their aid to Boston, they, 
and not the ministry, would be responsible for the deploia- 
ble results. 

Petitions, only one of which was heard, on behalf of the 
Bostonians, set forth, and her advocates maintained, that 
before they were condemned it was an undeniable maxim 
of justice that they should be heard; that the only evidence 
against them was the report of the Governor of Massachu- 
setts Bay, their prejudiced and partial enemy; that the 
offence charged was committed out of the jurisdiction of 
Boston, in her harbor, which was under the control of the 
Governor, and that in the precedents cited, the cities fined 
were represented in Parliament, heard by council, and their 

* Dr. Lamb, patronized by the Duke of Buckingham, who, like other 
overgrown favorites, was inclined to favor astrology, was, in 1640, 
pulled to pieces in the city of London by the enrag-ed populace, and his 
maidservant hanged, thirteen years afterwards, as a witch, at Salisbury. 
— Scolfs JJemonology and Wilchcroft, Letter X. 



86 LIFE AND COBBESFONDENCE 

witnesses admitted; that this bill went far beyond these 
precedents, which inflicted mulcts, but did not cruelly stop 
the trade and cut off the livelihood of a community; that 
in two of the cases cit-ed, atrocious murder had been, beyond 
doubt, committed, and not punished; in this, disorders, 
wdiich couhl not be denied, w^ere provoked by arbitrary and 
unconstitutional acts of the government, which could not, 
perhaps, have been successfully resisted wdthout them. It 
was, indeed, a paltry way of handling a case which might 
involve the dismemberment of a mighty empire, to rest it 
at all (m precedents so insignificant as these, and which did 
not sustain it. Why, it was asked, select Boston for pun- 
ishment, other cities in the colonies being equally guilty ? 
For the tea of the East India Company, wdiich all had re- 
fused to receive, was as much destroyed in the damp cellars 
of Charleston as in her harbor, and when reshipped at other 
ports, deteriorated greatly by the return-voyage to England. 
Why adopt a measure which w^ould starve alike the inno- 
cent and guilty of this doomed cit}^? If any measure could 
induce the other colonies to make comnion cause with 
Massachusetts, this bill would do so. 

The Boston port-bill, which received the royal assent 
March 31st, 1774, did not arrive in America until the loth 
of May, and intelligence of its passage preceded its arrival 
only three days. It was justly charged, as enhancing its 
injustice and cruelty, that, going into operation June 1st, it 
really did not give time, as it professed to do, for the doomed 
city to make her peace, if so disposed, with her incensed 
sovereign. On the same day arrived in Boston harbor four 
men-of-war and Governor Hutchinson's successor. General 
Gage. It is honorable to the inhabitants that his landing 
was marked by no outbreak of the people, but his reception 
was respectful, though cordial it could not have been. 
The Boston port-bill, printed, like a funeral notice, on black- 
bordered paper, w\t,s hawked through her streets, and sent 
with great expedition to the sister colonies of Massachusetts. 
Instead of awing to submission, it awakened the most lively 
indignation, and was denounced by the citizens of Boston, 
the day after its arrival, in town meeting, as "impolitic, in- 
human, unjust, and cruel beyond their power of expression," 
— with a soleuni appeal to God and the w^orld, and the re- 
connnendation of non-importation and exportation agree- 



OF GEORGE BEAD. 87 

meiits till the act should be repealed, " which." they declared, 
"if adopted by all the colonies, would prove the salvation 
of North America and her liberties." The colonies, with- 
out exception, perceiving that this act was intended to en- 
force ob(5dience to the right claimed of taxing them without 
their consent, considered it as aimed at them all, and there- 
fore were unanimous in denouncing its injustice and uncon- 
stitutionality in the strongest terms of abliorrence, while 
they admired and sympatiiized with those who were to 
sutler by the closing of their harbor, and made common 
cause with them. The Virginia House of Burges.ses ap- 
pointed the 1st of June to be observed as a day of fasting 
and prayer, "that the calamities of civil war and the ruin 
of their rights might be averted, and that they might have 
granted them one heart and mind to defend them." This 
was so observed, not only in Virginia, but generally through 
the other colonies; and was, as anticipated by Mr. Jefferson, 
who suggested it for this purpose, and, I fear, for none 
higher,* a most effectual means of warning them of tlie 
danger which menaced them and arousing them to resist- 
ance. But something more than the expression of indigna- 
tion and sympathy was due to this wronged and suffering 
city, for the fire must go out on the hearth of every poor 
man there on the first of June, and his children, as they 

* "Mr. Henry R. H. and Frederick L. Lee, m3^self, and three or four 
others,^ — the lead being no longer in the old members, — agreed ihat we 
must take a bold and unequivocal stand iu the line of Massachusetts. 
Convinced of the necessity of arousing the people from their lethargy 
as to passing events, we thought the appointment of a day of general 
fasting and pra3'er would be most likely to call up and alarm their at- 
tention. There was no example of such solemnity since the days of 
our distress in 1'755, since which a new generation had grown up. With 
the help therefore of Rushworth, whom we rummaged for the revolu- 
tionary precedents and forms of the Puritans of that day, we cooked 
up a resolution, somewhat modernizing the phrases, for appointing the 
1st uf June, when the port-bill was to commence, for a day of fasting, 
humiliation, and prayer, to implore Heaven to avert from us the evils 
of civil war, to inspire us with firmness in support of our rights, and 
to turn the king and Parliament to moderation and justice To give 
greater emphasis to the measure, they requested Mr. Nicholas, whose 
grave and religious character was more in unison with the tone of our 
resolution, to move it, which he did, and it passed without opposition. 
The day was observed throughout Virginia, and the eflect was like a 
shock of electricity, arousing every man, and placing him erect and 
solidly on his centre." — Writings of Thomas Jejj'erson, vol. i. pp. 6 
and 1. 



88 LIFE AND COBRESFOXDENCE 

cowered around it, cry in vain to liim for bread, and the 
colonies, without exception, I beheve, sent with their re- 
solves, lauding the patriotism and firmness of Boston in their 
common cause, liberal aid to her starving inhabitants. Mr. 
Read's part in the measures i'or raising and transmitting 
such aid from ''New Castle County on Delaware" makes it 
necessary and proper for me to insert the following resolu- 
tions, adopted at a general meeting of the freeholders and 
inhabitants of that county on the 29th of June, 1774, of 
which meeting Thomas McKean was chairman : 

"1. Refiolved, That the act of Parliament for shutting up 
the port of Boston is unconstitutional, oppressive to the in- 
habitants of that town, dangerous to the liberties of the 
British colonies, and that therefore we consider our brethren 
at Boston as suffering in the common cause of America. 

" 2. That a congress of deputies from the several colonies 
in Nortli America is the most probable and proper mode of 
procuring relief for our suffering brethren, obtaining redress 
of American grievances, securing our rights and liberties, 
and re-establishing peace and harmony between Great Bri- 
tain and these colonies on a constitutional foundation, 

"3. That a respectable committee be immediately ap- 
pointed ior the county of New Castle, to correspond with 
the sister colonies, and with the other counties in this 
government, in order that all may unite in promoting, and 
endeavoring to obtain, the great and valuable ends men- 
tioned in the foregoing resolution. 

"4. That the most eligible way of appointing deputies 
would be by the representatives ot the people of this govern- 
ment, met in their legislative capacity, but as the House of 
Assembly have adjourned themselves to the oOth day of 
September next, and it is not expected his Honor the 
Governor will call them by writs of summons on this occa- 
sion, having refused to do the like in his other province of 
Pennsylvania, therefore, that the speaker of the honorable 
House of Assembly be desired by the committee now to be 
appointed to write to the several members of Assembly, re- 
questing them to convene at New Castle on any day not 
later than the first of August next, to take into their most 
serious consideration our alarming situation, and to appoint 
deputies to attend at a general congress for the colonies, at 
such time and place as shall be generally agreed on. 



OF GEORGE READ. 89 

"5. That the committee, now to be chosen, consist of 
thirteen persons, to wit, Thomas McKean, John Evans, 
John McKinley, James Latimer, George Read, Alexander 
Porter, Samuel Patterson, Nicholas Van Dyke, Thomas 
Cooch, Job Harvey, George Monroe, Samuel Piatt, and 
Richard Cantwell, and that any seven of them may act. 

"6. That the said committee immediately set on foot a 
subscription for the relief of such poor inhabitants of the 
town of Boston as may be deprived of the means of subsist- 
ence by the act of Parliament, commonly styled the Boston 
Port-Bill. The money arising from such subscription to be 
laid out as the committee shall think will best answer the 
end proposed. 

"7. That the inhabitants of this county tv III ac7 opt and 
carry into execution all and singular such peaceable and 
constitutional measures as shall be agreed on by a majority 
of the colonies, by their deputies, at the intended congress, 
and will have no trade, commerce, or dealings whatsoever 
with that city, province, or town in the British colonies on 
this continent (if any such should be), or with any inilividual 
therein, w^ho shall refuse to adopt the same, until the before- 
mentioned act of Parliament, and two other bills respecting 
the province of Massachusetts Bay, depending in Parliament 
(if passed into acts), are repealed." 

The following is the earliest of the letters of Csesar 
Rodney to my grandfather which I have found among his 
papers. It communicates the success of his efforts for the 
adoption in Kent County of the measures recommended by 
the foregoing resolutions, and of his further efforts to have 
them adopted in Sussex: 

"Dover, July 21st, 1774. 

"Sir, — Yesterday we had a very full meeting of this 
county. Upward of seven hundred inhabitants, some think 
more than eight [were present]. With this (agreeable to 
promise) I have sent you a packet, inclosing a letter from the 
committee of this county to the committee of yours, as also 
a copy of our resolves, and a letter to Bradford, the printer, 
inclosing another copy of them for the press, which I hope 
you will forward to him as quick as possible. Some people 
were much displeased with your having appointed New 
Castle as the place of meeting, and it was not without some 

7 



90 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 

difficulty that soine others reconciled the people to the 
place. More of this another time. The meeting of the 
people of Sussex County is to be on Saturday next, and 
there is a report prevails here that they are so offended 
at your fixing; the mode and place, but more especially the 
place, that they are determined not to fall in with your 
plan, but that the people, at their meeting, shall or will 
choose a deputy for that county. However, I shall despatch 
an express early to-morrow morning, to Thomas Robinson, 
with a very pressing letter from the committee here, to 
adopt your measures; and that, if they do not, they will 
defeat the whole business. The express will have orders 
to be there before the meeting of the people, and to wait 
for a full account of what they shall do. I shall write a 
private letter to Robinson, enjoining him to use his endeavor 
to have the plan of the other two counties adopted. I have 
sent circular letters to all the members of your county. 
You'll be pleased to have them delivered. 1 have also sent 
circular letters to the members of this county, who desired 
me to inform you that they would be in New Castle, ready 
to enter upon business, by ten o'clock, on the first of 
August, and hope your members will give their attendance 
by that time. Further, with respect [to] Sussex, I have 
prevailed on Clarke to ride to Cropper's, to persuade him to 
use his interest in bringing about the proposed measures, 
and also have got Jacob Stout to write to Wiltbank. I do 
most sincerely wish the worthy members of Sussex may be 
prevailed on to adopt the measures proposed. I expect to 
hear from them by Sunday evening, and, if I find it will 
avail, will call them in due time for the convention. 
"I am yours, truly, 

"CAESAR Rodney. 
"To George Read, Esquire, per John BuUon, Express." 

Mr. Rodney was too wise a man, and too zealous in the 
good cause of the colonies, to countenance the dissatisfiiction 
of the freeholders of Kent and Sussex with the fourth 
resolution of those who met at New Castle, because they 
thought, I suppose, it fixed the mode, time, and place of 
choosing deputies to the proposed general congress (which 
it only suggests as the best), and which, being done without 
their having a voice in it, was arrogant and dictatorial. As 



OF GEORGE READ. 91 

the Congress was to meet September 4tli then next, there 
was no time for consulting these over-sensitive persons, — the 
Assembly would select better delegates than popular meet- 
ings could do. New Castle was the place of meeting of the 
Assembly of the province theretofore for the convenience of 
the Governors, who resided in Philadelphia, and though a 
central town would have been generally more convenient, 
yet it would have been open to the objection of being an 
unusual one. The praiseworthy efforts of Mr. Rodney and 
others overcame the opposition, which threatened to defeat 
this measure. He, being speaker of the Assembly, sum- 
moned the members of that body to meer at New Castle 
August 1st, 1774. They met accordingly, and chose Caesar 
Rodney, Thomas McKean, and George Read delegates to 
the General Congress, which met in Philadelphia Septem- 
ber 5th, 1774, as appears by their credentials produced to 
this body, as follows : 

"The three Counties of New Castle, Kent, and Sussex 

ON Delaware. 

"August 1st, lIYi, A.M. 

"The representatives of the freemen of the government 
of the counties of New Castle, Kent, and Sussex on Dela- 
ware, met at New Castle, in pursuance of a circular letter 
from the Speaker of the House, who was requested to write 
and forward the same to the members of Assembly by the 
committees of correspondence for the several counties afore- 
said, chosen and appointed for that, among other purposes, 
by the freemen and freeholders of the said counties respect- 
ively. And having chosen a chairman, and read the resolves 
of the respective counties, and sundry letters from the com- 
mittees of correspondence along the continent, they unani- 
mously entered into the following resolution, viz. : 

" We, the representatives aforesaid, by virtue of the 
power delegated to us, as aforesaid, taking into our most 
serious consideration the several acts of the British Parlia- 
ment for restraining manufactures in his majesty's colonies 
and plantations in North America; for taking away the 
property of the colonists without their participation or con- 
sent; for the introduction of the arbitrary powers of excise 
into the customs here; for making all revenue causes tria- 
ble without jury, and under the decision of a single judge; 



92 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 

for the trial in England of persons accused of capital crimes 
committed in the colonies; for the shutting up of the port 
01 Boston; for new-modeling the government of Massachu- 
setts Bay, and the operation of the same on the property, 
liberty, and lives of the colonists; and also considering that 
[the] most eligible mode of determining upon the premises, 
and of endeavoring to procure relief and redress of our 
grievances, would have been by us assembled in our legisla- 
tive capacity, but as the House had adjourned to the 30th 
day of September next, and it is not to be expected that 
his Honor the Governor will call us by writs of summons 
on this occasion, having refused to do the like in his other 
province of Pennsylvania; the next most proper method of 
answering the expectations and desires of our constituents, 
and of contributing our aid to the general cause of America, 
is to appoint commissioners or deputies in behalf of the 
people of this government, to meet and act with those ap- 
pointed by the other provinces in general congress; and 
we therefore do unanimously nominate and appoint Csesar 
Rodney, Thomas McKean, and George Read, Esquires, or 
any two of thehi, dep\ities, on the part and behalf of this 
government, in a general Continental Congress proposed to 
be held, at the city of Philadelphia, on the first Monday in 
September next, or at any other time and place that may 
be generally agreed on, then and there to consult and advise 
with the deputies from the other colonies, and to determine 
upon all such prudent and lawful measures as may be judged 
most expedient for the colonies immediately and unitedly 
to adopt, in order to obtain relief for an oppressed people 
and the redress of our general grievances. 

" Signed by order of the convention, 

"CAESAR Rodney, Chairman."* 

Mr. Read represented the State of Delaware in Congress 
during the most interesting period of the Revolutionary war, 
excepting a short interval, when, by virtue of his office as 
Vice-President of Delaware, lie acted as her chief magis- 
trate, in consequence of the capture of President McKinley, 
immediately alter the battle of Brandywine. 

* Journals of Congress from 1774 to 1776, vol. i. pp. 8, 9. (Published 
in Philadelphia, 1800.) 



OF GEORGE READ. 93 

The Congress of 1774 — no one of the colonies being 
unrepresented but Georgia — commenced its session Sep- 
tember 5th, at Carpenter's Hall, in the city of Philadelphia, 
Peyton Randolph was chosen President. They determined 
that each colony should have one vote, and their proceed- 
ings should be secret till a majority should authorize their 
publication. Without questioning the propriety of this re- 
solve to sit with closed doors, Ave may be pardoned in 
regretting that by reason of it the debates of this august 
assembly are lost to history. The delegates were chosen 
generally by the colonial assemblies, the exceptions being 
New Jersey and Marjdand, where they were appointed by 
county committees chosen to do so, and New York, where 
they were elected directly by the people. Their instructions 
generally authorized them to consult on the best measures 
for the redress of grievances, the ascertainment and security 
of colonial rights and restoration of harmony, but some of 
the colonies restricted their deputies to measures that would 
bear on their commercial relations to Great Britain, while 
others gave them unlimited discretion.* This Congress lost 
no time, but entered at once upon the discharge of their 
high duties.f All eyes, from New Hampshire to Georgia, 



* Marshall's Life of Washing-ton, vol. ii. p. 168. 

f I subjoin the following- notices of members of this Congress and 
their opinions : 

"I dined September 12th [1114]," wrote John Adams in his 
" Diary," vol. ii. of liis Writings (p. ^79), " with John Dickinson, at his 
seat near Philadelphia (Fair Hill), with fine gardens, and a beautiful 
view of the city, the Delaware River, and country. A good library, — 
the books principally collected by his wife's father, Mr. Norris. Mr. 
Dickinson, ver}^ modest, ingenuous, agreeable, with an excellent heart, 
and the cause of his country near it. Full and clear for allowing Par- 
liament the right to regulate American trade upon principles of neces- 
sity and mutual interest. Gadsden violently denies this, saying, power 
to regulate is power to ruin trade, and that admitting power to regulate 
trade is tantamount to admitting universal power \_i.e. right] to legis- 
late, [inasmuch] as a right in one ca.se is a right in all. Gralloway 
proposed a plan of union between Great Britain and her American colo- 
nies, [providing] for a British-American legislature, and that no act 
should be passed [affecting them] without the assent of both. Duane 
approved, also Jay and Rutledge, [but] Henry opposed it. Galloway 
accepted a seat in Congress — having extensive interest on the popular 
side, but [being] at heart disaffected — to sit in the skirts of American 
advocates, that is, embarrass and defeat their measures. At first, five 
colonies were for the power of Parliament to regulate trade and five 



94 LIFE AND GOREESPONDENCE 

were fixed on Philadelphia. Mr. Read wrote from time to 
time, during the session, which terminated October 26th, 
to Mrs. Read, and some of these letters I insert, with ex- 
tracts from others of them. They were presented to me, 
with those inserted j9os^ (in all thirteen), in July, 1839, by 
Mrs. Anna G. McLane, second wife of Dr. Allen McLane, 
of Wilmington, Delaware, who received them through her 
mother, the wife of Matthew Pierce, of Poplar-Neck, Cecil 
County, Maryland, and only daughter of George Read. 

Soon after the session of Congress commenced, he writes : 
"The day is consumed in this way, — shaving, washing, 
breakfasting, waiting an hour for the barber's coming, near 
half an hour under his hands, hurrying to the Congress, 
sitting there till three o'clock, then hastening to dine, — on 
invitation, waiting an hour before dinner ajDpears, and walk- 
ing quickly home to avoid the night-air. Not a moment to 
spare is disagreeable, yet there is very little in all this bus- 
tle. We are wide of our business. I dine to-day at Gur- 
ney's, where I expect to meet Mr. Biddle, to-morrow at Mr. 
Dickinson's a second time, and Wednesday at Mr. Richard 
Penn's. This is tiresome duty." 

On Sunday, September 18th, my birthday, he writes: "I 



against, and two divided, Massachusetts and Rhode Island. Duane 
grounds it on compact, acquiescence, necessity, and protection, [and] 
not merely on consent. Lee, Henry, and Hooper are orators. Chase 
is violent, boisterous, and tedious on frivolous topics; so E. Rutledge, 
and uncouth and ungraceful, and so his brother John. Dyer, long- 
winded, roundabout, cloudy and obscure, but honest and worthy, means 
well, and judges well. Sherman, ungraceful (but with a clear head and 
sound judgment), generally stands with his hands before him, the fingers 
of his left hand clinched into a fist, and the wrist of it grasped by the 
right, — Hogarth could not have invented a position more opposite to 
grace. Dickinson's air, gait, and action are not much more elegant."— 
Writings of John Adams, vol. ii. (Diary) pp. 387, 379, 397, 393, 423. 
" The two great points labored were first, whether we should base 
our rights upon the law of nature as well as the British constitution 
and colonial charters, or e.\clude the first. Galloway and Duane for so 
doing, John Adams contra, [maintaining] it to be a resource to which 
Parliament might drive the colonies ; second, what authority should be 
allowed Parliament, whether [admit] any control over internal affairs, 
or deny it in all cases; whether it be allowed to regulate trade, and, if 
so, with or without restrictions [It was] agreed, after much discus- 
sion, to admit the power to regulate trade from the necessity of the 
case, but excluding all right of taxation, internal or external." — Ibid., 
374, 539. 



OF GEORGE READ. 95 

flatter myself that I am rid of my intermittent, though I 
had a slight fit on Thursday last, the day I wrote by Captain 
Young, since which I have taken fourteen doses of bark. I 
shall take a short ride on horseback this mornincr. . I 
long to be with you, but dare not hint a time lest I could 
not keep it, but you may be assured, if I can discover a few 
days that I can with propriety be absent, I will seize the 
opportunity. If I had been able to have travelled through 
yesterday, I should have blamed myself for being absent, 
as two matters were debated which I would have chosen to 
appear in, — to wit, a resolve of approbation of the conduct 
of the people of Boston and county of Suffolk, which in- 
cludes Boston,* since the operation of the jDort-bill; and 



* Pitkin's Civil History of the United States, vol. i. p. 283 ; Marshall's 
Life of Washington, Appendix xii., pp. 45, 47, Journal, 19, 20, 14. 

The resolves of the people of Suffolk "are suitable to the crisis; but 
their preamble, I think, is not, as a composition, equal to other Revolu- 
tionary state-papers. Its tone is too angry to be dignified, and its style 
diffuse, and somewhat grandiloquent. Under tlie pressure, as the 
author was in common with his fellow-citizens, of the port-bill, he may 
be pardoned for the indignation he manifests, and for thinking little or, 
perhaps, not at all of his style. Great had been the sufferings of Bos- 
ton, notwithstanding the aid afforded her, which was not stinted. The 
troops commanded by General Gage were reinforced gradually by regi- 
ments from Ireland, and the whole encamped on Boston Common. Re- 
ports, unfounded however, that it was contemplated to starve the city 
into submission by cutting it off from communicating with the adjacent 
country, caused a rising in arms to prevent it. The new judges were 
not permitted to hold courts, and the new counsellors forced most of 
them to resign. Upon the fortification of Boston neck by General Gage, 
the extreme measure of burning the town was suggested, and the Con- 
tinental Congress was consulted upon the proposition to remove the 
inhabitants to the neighborhood of that city, but, declining to decide 
upon it, they referred it to the Massachusetts congress, declaring that if 
executed it ought to be at the expense of all the colonies. General 
Gage took possession of military stores at Cambridge and Charleston, 
and the colonists seized powder in New Hampshire and Rhode Island. 
Disregarding the writs of the Governor for the election of members of 
Assembly, the freeholders of Massachusetts elected them on their own 
authority, and as a provincial congress they assembled and acted, all their 
acts being recognized as lawful, and receiving prompt obedience. Such 
was the state of affairs when tiie Suffolk resolutions were sent to Con- 
gress. To the letter of that body expressing their concern at his hostile 
acts, and cautioning against persistence in them, General Gage replied 
that under great provocations great care had been taken by his officers 
and soldiers to avoid offence, and that the communication between Bos- 
ton and the country was and had ever been open and unobstructed, 



96 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 

another resolve for a further contribution from all llie col<3- 
nies for the support of the poor of Boston, both of which 
will be published to-morrow. These were suddenly done 
in consequence of an application from Boston to the Con- 
gress for their advice upon the late measures of General 
Gage, in fortifying the neck of land that leads into Boston. 
John Penn made, and Richard Penn accepted, the offer of 
the naval office on the day of Hackley's death." 

The next of these letters is dated 16th October, 1774: 

" My dear G , It is now brought to Sunday morning 

again, and no certainty yet of the time I am to return to 
you. The Virginians give out they will go off this day 
week, but I doubt the business before us will not be in that 
state it ought by that time. Mrs. Biddle left us on Friday, 
and that evening her husband was made Speaker of the 
House of Assembly of this province. I have not seen him 
since. I am told the chair went a begging. Galloway was 
named twice or thrice to it, John Morton, of Chester County, 
once, and Mr. Dickinson once. Galloway and Dickinson 
excused themselves for want of health, and unexpectedly a 
member for Northampton County got up, and prefaced 
his motion very well, it is said, taking notice of the diffi- 
culties the House was under, and said he had a person in 
his eye who had both health and abilities equal to the 
service, and as soon as he named Mr. Biddle the House was 
in an uproar, refused to hear any apology from him, and as 
many as could lay hold of him did, and forced him into the 
chair on a unanimous vote. Though I am pleased with the 
distinction that is paid him, I am afraid it will be prejudi- 
cial to his interest. I dined at the Governor's yesterday 
very agreeably; the set were Mrs. Elliott from New York, 
Mr. Gibson and his wife, Miss Oswald, John Wilcocks, and 
myself; and last night I went to club with Mr. Hamilton, 
whom I met with at the coffee-house, but our company there 
was not so sprightly. I am told there are letters in town 
from Boston, mentioning General Gage's declining state of 

expressing in conclusion his hope that, to the disappointment of their 
common enemies, the disputes between the Americans aud Great 
Britain might, like the quarrels of lovers, end in the increased affections 
of both. 



OF GEORGE READ. 97 

health, supposed to be owing to uneasiness of mind, and 
that he is now actually confined to his bed. Most persons 
who wish for peace wish his recovery. It is also said that 
there are some letters in a late vessel from Liverpool men- 
tioning that the American cause is gaining ground iia Eng- 
land, and that Hutchinson and Barnard will be made the 
scape-goats by the ministry. I hear of numbers of persons 
having intermittents, so that the Philadelphians must leave 
boasting of the healthiness of their town. Mr. Paca, of 
Annapolis, was seized with it yesterday, James Allen has it, 
and others I do not now recollect. I have felt nothing of 
it since you left me. Eating and drinking distress me most ; 
however, I was moderate yesterday; the ladies were the 
means of it, in some measure, and the wine at the tavern 
at night was bad. All are well at James Read's, and send 
their love to you, I ^^esterday delivered my resignation, in 
writing, of the Attorney-General's office to the Governor, 
when he told me he would order a commission to be made 
out for Jacob Moore, as Mr. Rodney had strongly recom- 
mended him. Mr. McPherson came to me on Thursday 
and asked me to go with him to the Governor, but I was 
obliged to decline it, as Moore was the person I had in view 
to succeed me, though I have a very favorable opinion of 
McPherson. Moore very luckily came to town on Wednes- 
day last. He and his wife lodge at Mrs. Vining's. I do 
not know when they will be down. 

'"' The Governor goes to Chester Wednesday afternoon, and 
to your town next day. We propose to get Mr. Rodney down. 
"Yours, most affectionately, 

"George Read. 

"16th October, 1774." 

Two days before the adjournment of Congress, Mr. Read 
writes thus: 

" My dear G , I am still uncertain as to the time of 

my return home. As I expected, the New England men 
declined doing any business on Sunday, and though we sat 
until four o'clock this afternoon, I am well persuaded that 
our business can by no means be left till Wednesday even- 
ing, and even then very doubtful, so that I have no pros- 
pect of being with you till Thursday evening. Five of the 
Virginia gentlemen are gone. The two remaining ones 



98 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 

have power to act in their stead. The two objects before 
us, and which we expect to go through to-morrow, are an 
address to the king, and one to the people of Canada. This 
last was recommitted this evening in order to be remodelled. 
Your brother George* came to Congress this afternoon. All 
your friends are well. No news but the burning of the 
vessel and tea at Annapolis,f which I take for granted you 
will have heard before this comes to hand. We are all well 
at my lodgings, and send their love to you. 

"I am yours, very affectionately, 

"George Read. 
"Monday evening, ten o'clock, 24th October, 1774." 

The Congress of 1774 having adopted a petition to the 
king, and addresses to the people of Great Britain, to the 
inhabitants of the province of Quebec, and to the colonies 
represented in the Congress, dissolved itself, recommending 
that another Congress should be held in Philadelphia on 
the 10th day of May, 1775. These state-papers are char- 
acterized by perspicuity, cogency of argument, moderation, 

* George Ross, a delegate from Pennsylvania. 

f " When the brig Peggy Stewart imported into Annapolis a quantity 
of tea (an article forbidden by the delegates of Maryland, June 22d, 
P774), the irritated populace, then collected from the neighboring coun- 
ties at the provincial court, threatened personal violence to the master 
and consignees of the vessel, as well as destruction to the cargo. The 
committee of delegates immediately met and appointed a sub-committee 
to superintend the unloading of the vessel, and to see that the pro- 
hibited article was not landed. Still the excitement of the popular 
feeling continued unabated, and the friends of Mr. Anthony Stewart, 
the owner of the vessel, applied to Mr. Carroll, as one most able to pro- 
tect him from violence. His advice was concise and determined: — 'It 
will not do to export the tea to Europe or the West Indies. Its impor- 
tation, contrary to the known regulations of the convention, is an offence 
for which the people will not he easily satisfied, and whatever be my 
personal esteem for Mr. Stewart and wish to prevent violence, it will 
not be in my power to protect him, unless he consents to pursue a more 
decisive course of conduct. My advice is that he set fire to the vessel, 
and burn her, together with the tea she contains, to the water's edge.' 
The applicants paused for a moment, but they saw no alternative, and 
Stewart, appearing immediately before the committee, offered to do 
what Mr. Carroll proposed. In a few hours after, the l)rigantine Peggy 
Stewart, with her sails set and her colors flying, was enveloped in 
flames, and the immense crowd, assembled on the shore, acknowledged 
the sufficiency of the satisfaction." — Biographi/ of (he Signo^s of the 
Declaration of Independence, vol. iv. pp. 159, 160. 



OF GEORGE READ • 99 

and dignity. The members of this body, for themselves 
and their constituents, signed non-importation and non-ex- 
portation agreements, the hitter to take effect after Septem- 
ber, 1775, should the obnoxious acts of Parliament not be 
repealed in the mean time. The major part of this Congress 
were confident that these measures would be successful, but 
some doubted, while a few were of opinion that they would 
be ineffective.* 

The colonies, while anxiously awaiting intelligence of the 
effect of their proceedings in England, with wonderful 
unanimity approved and executed the recommendations of 
Congress. The suspension of labor and of business, which 

* "When Cong;ress had finished their business, as they thought, in 
the autunm of 1774, I had with Mr. Henry, before we took leave of each 
other, some familiar conversation, in which I expressed a full conviction 
that our I'esolves, declarations of rights, enumeration of wrongs, peti- 
tions, remonstrances, and addresses, associations, and non-importation 
agreements, however they mi^-ht be expected in America, and however 
necessary to cement the union of the colonies, would be but waste 
paper in England. Mr. Henry said they might make some impression 
among the people of England, but agreed with me that they would be 
totally lost upon the government. 1 had just received a short and 
hasty letter, written to me by Major Joseph Hanley, of Northampton, 
containing ' a few broken hints,' as he called them, of what he thought 
proper to be done, and concluding with these words, — ' After all, we 
must fighlJ This letter I read to Mr. Henry, who listened with great 
attention, and as I pronounced the words ' after all, we must fight,' he 
raised his head, and with an energy and vehemence I never can forget, 

broke out with, ' By , lam of that man^s mind!'' I put the letter into 

his hand, and when he had read it, he returned it to me, with an equally 
solemn asseveration that he agreed entirely in opinion with the writer. 
I considered this as a sacred oath upon a very great occasion, and could 
have sworn it as religiously as he did, and by no means inconsistent 
with what you say, in some part of your book, that he never took the 
sacred name in vain. The other delegates from Virginia returned to 
their State in full confidence that all our grievances would be redressed. 
The last words that Mr. Richard Henry Lee said to me, when we 
parted, were, ' We shall infallibly carry all our points; you will be com- 
pletely relieved; all the obnoxious acts will be repealed; the army and 
fleet will be recalled, and Britain will give up her foolish project.' 
Washington only was in doubt. He never spoke in public. In private 
he joined with those who advocated a non-exportation as well as non- 
importation agreement. With both he thought we should prevail, 
without either he thought it doubtful. Henry was clear in one opinion, 
Richard Henry Lee in an opposite opinion, Washington doubted between 
the two. Henry, however, appeared in the end to be exactly right." — 
Letter of John Adams, Niles's Register, vol. xiv. p. 258; No. xvi. July 
13th, 1818. 



100 LIFE AND COBBESPONDENCi: 

was consequent, caused wide-spread distress, and while 
some were in want of the necessaries of life, others suffered 
not a little from loss of its luxuries which habit had made 
essential to their comfort. Not alone the rich responded 
to appeals to their generosity in behalf of their poorer 
brethren, but all who had aught beyond their own necessary 
expenses. The colonists were informed, by every means 
of addressing them, of the grounds of the controversy with 
the parent state, and incited by constant appeals to the 
noblest principles of man's nature to resist all attempts to 
crush their liberty; though hopeful of redress of all their 
grievances, they were preparing for the worst, by military 
training, by manufacturing gunpowder, and procuring, when- 
ever they could do so, arms and military stores. This mar- 
vellous change in the habits of three millions of people was 
wrought by their love of liberty, which was enthusiastic. 

The committee appointed to receive donations from the 
people of New Castle County for the sufferers under the 
Boston port-bill, remitted for their benefit nine hundred 
dollars, which occasioned the following correspondence: 

"New Castle, February 6th, 1775. 

" Sir, — I take the liberty to address this to you, as you 
have subscribed a letter per order of this committee of 
donations, now before me, dated the 25th of August last, 
and directed to the committee of correspondence of the 
county of New Castle, and I am to inform you that Nicho- 
las Van Dyke and mj^self were appointed to receive the 
donations of the people of this county for the relief of the 
poor of Boston, and that we have now in our hands upwards 
of nine hundred dollars, which we have endeavored to re- 
mit to you by way of bills to be drawn by mercantile per- 
sons in Philadelphia, who transact business with your 
colonists, and were safe hands; but upon a strict inquiry 
we can find n(me amongst them willing to draw any bills 
for some time to come, lest they should distress their corre- 
spondents by drafts too early for the season of business. 
Upon this disappointment we had thoughts of purchasing 
English bills, but upon reflection doubted whether 3^ou 
might not be losers by the exchange; therefore, I must 
request the advice and direction of 3' our committees as to the 
most speedy and acceptable mode of remittance. Perhaps 



OF GEORGE READ. 101 

some amongst your townsmen may with convenience give 
orders to their correspondents at Philadelphia to draw for 
the amount of our small sura, which it is hoped will not 
come to you out of season, though late. You may be 
assured that it is from a people who sincerely sympathize 
with you in your distresses, and are anxious for your relief. 
Please to present my compliments to Messrs. Gushing, 
Adamses, and Pain, and I am, with esteem, your most obe- 
dient and humble servant, 

"George Read. 
" Mr. David Jeffries." 

"Boston, February 24th, HTr). 

"Sir, — By your letter of the 6th instant, directed to Mr. 
David Jeffries, the committee of this town appointed to re- 
ceive and distribute the donations made for the employment 
and relief of the sufferers, by the Boston port-bill, are in- 
formed that a very generous collection has been made by 
the inhabitants of the county of New Castle on Delaware, 
and that there is in your hands upwards of nine hundred 
dollars for that charitable purpose. The care you have 
taken with our worthy friend Nicholas Van Dyke, Esquire, 
in receiving these contributions, and your joint endeavors 
to have them remitted in the safest and most easy manner, 
is gratefully acknowledged by our committee, and they 
have directed me to request that you would return their 
sincere thanks to the. people of New Castle County for their 
great liberality towards their fellow-subjects in this place, 
who are still suffering under the hand of oppression and 
tyranny. It will, I dare saj^, afford you abundant satisfac- 
tion to be informed that the inhabitants of this town, with 
the exception only of a contemptible few, appear to be ani- 
mated with an inextinguishable love of liberty. Having 
the approbation of all the sister colonies, and being thus sup- 
ported by their generous benefactors, they endure the most 
severe trials with a manly fortitude, which disappoints and 
perplexes our common enemies. While a great continent 
is thus anxious for them, and continually administering to 
their relief, they can even smile with contempt on the fee- 
ble efforts of the British administration to force them to 
submit to tyranny by depriving them of their usual means 
of subsistence. The people oi this province behold with 



102 LIFE AND C0BRE8P0NDENCE 

indignation a lawless army posted in its capital, with a 
professed design to overturn their free constitution. They 
restrain their just resentment, in hopes that the most happy 
effects will flow from the united applications of the colonies 
for their relief. May Heaven grant that the councils of our 
sovereign mny be guided by wisdom, that the liberties of 
America may be established, and harmony restored between 
the subjects in Britain and the colonies! 

"'I am, sir, your sincere friend and fellow-countryman, 

"SAMtjEL Adams. 

"P.S. — The committee have the prospect of negotiating 
this matter with some friends in Philadelphia. 

•'George Read, Esquire." 

It appears by the receipt of Samuel Adams, chairman of 
the Boston committee of donations, that the sum of three 
hundred and seventy-five pounds, Pennsylvania currency, — 
being one thousand dollars at seven shillings and sixpence 
each, — was received by him from Mr. Read, 11th May, 
1775; and the additional sum of one hundred pounds was 
subsequently received by the New Castle County committee, 
as further appears by the following letter and receipt, and 
was no doubt remitted to Boston : 

"Sir, — I received yours, attended by fifty pounds, part 
of the Boston subscription, by Mr. Tatlow, but have heard 
nothing from Mr. Tybout, though I sent your letter the day 
after I came up. 

"It is said an express came to town last evening with an 
account that some Connecticut volunteers, under the com- 
mand of a Captain Arnold, had taken possession of the fort 
at Ticonderoga, or Crown Point, in which there are near 
two hundred cannon, etc.; this, to prevent the Canadians 
marching down into the New England colonies. Upon the 
payment of the one thousand dollars to Mr. Samuel Adams, 
as chairman of the committee of donations at Boston, he 
desired that I should, in the name of that committee, give 
thanks to the contributors. 

"In haste, your most humble servant, 

"George Read. 

"18th May, 1775.=^ 

* This letter was kiudly sent to me, 27th January, 1865, by a lady, 
a descendant of Governor Van Dyke, who found it among his papers. 



OF GEORGE READ. 103 

"We know not how long we may stay here. All secret 
as before. 

"Received, this 17th July, 1775, of Nicholas Van Dyke, 
Esquire, fifty pounds, for so much of the donations of the 
inhabitants of New Castle County towards the relief of the 
poor of Boston. 

"£50.00. George Read." 

On the 30th of September, 1774, by proclamation, the 
British Parliament, after an existence of six and a half 
years, was dissolved, and a new one summoned by writs 
returnable November 9th. The majority of the people, 
coinciding with the ministry in their policy towards America, 
were certain almost to elect a Parliament favorable to 
measures of coercion; the ministers, therefore, did not risk 
office by this appeal to the nation, while the result they 
anticipated would much strengthen them. The new Parlia- 
ment met November 30th. In the House of Commons 
were members of great ability, knowledge, and experience, 
and some of transcendent genius and oratorical powers. 
While Chatham, in the House of Lords, was closing his 
brilliant career by efforts of his matchless oratory in behalf 
of freedom and justice, Charles Fox astonished the Com- 
mons and the nation by the display of power in debate 
which eclipsed veteran speakers. The king's speech stated 
in strong language the attitude of opposition to law and 
authority of his American colonies, and, claiming the right 
to tax them without their consent and without regard to 
their opinions and habits, expressed the determination to 
resist every attempt to curtail the authority of Parliament, 
and recommended vigor and harmony, with the assurance 
that his ministers would persevere in the policy they had 
pursued. The address of Parliament responded affirma- 
tively to the speech. The king had refused to receive the 
petition of the Congress of 1774, on the ground that it was 
an unlawful and seditious assembly. Three colonial agents 
prayed Parliament to hear them in regard to this petition, 
but were denied a hearing on the same ground. Lord 
Chatham, in the House of Lords, moved the recall of the 



and was written in Philadelphia, where Mr. Read was in attendance on 

the Continental Congress. 



104 LIFE AND COBRESPONDENCE 

troops from Boston, but his motion, though sustained by a 
speech memorable for its force and eloquence, was rejected 
by a large majority. He then proposed the repeal of all 
the obnoxious acts of Parliament, asserting at the same 
time its supremacy, excepting the right to tax, but with 
the like result. An address to the king (Februarj^ 3d) was 
moved in the Commons, and carried there and in the upper 
House, declaring Massachusetts to be in rebellion and aided 
and abetted by combinations in other colonies, and beseech- 
ing him to take efficient measures to reduce them to obedi- 
ence. In reply, the king recommended an increase of the 
land and naval forces, which was voted. In the same 
month the act was passed which restricted the trade of the 
northern colonies to Great Britain and Ireland, and pro- 
hibited them from fishing on the banks of Newfoundland; 
the last, an especially cruel measure, for it deprived thou- 
sands of poor, hardy, and industrious men of their only 
means of gaining a living for themselves and families. 
Then was adopted Lord North's conciliatory plan, as it was 
called, which conceded nothing, for it only changed the 
manner without renouncing the right to tax. On the 29th 
of March, 1775, Mr. Burke offered his plan of conciliation, 
which, in substance, was that Great Britain, abandoning a 
novel and doubtful — if not detrimental— policy, and re- 
curring to the ancient one by which she had so greatly 
prospered, should leave the colonists to tax themselves, as 
theretofore, by their own representatives, and repeal all the 
acts of trade enacted to raise revenue. This plan was re- 
jected by the determined ministerial majority. Then the 
act restricting the trade of the northern colonies was ex- 
tended to all but New York, where the tories were numer- 
ous, and which, therefore, from policy was thus favored. 
Thus was completed the ministerial plan of coercion, the 
effect of which was awaited anxiously but with great con- 
fidence in its success. 

In the beginning of April were received the acts of Par- 
liament, which completed what has been aptly termed "//<e 
hJach catalogue' of measures which constituted the ministe- 
rial plan of coercion. Instead of intimidating, it produced 
the conviction everywhere, "after all, we must fight." The 
provincial congress of Massachusetts, which exercised ex- 
ecutive as well as legislative power, announcing this in- 



OF GEORGE READ. 105 

telligence, warned the colonists that great reinforcements 
of the British troops already in their colony were soon to 
be expected, and exhorted them to redoubled efforts to 
prepare, by military training, to encounter these invaders 
of their soil. Blood had been shed at Concord and Lex- 
ington, and the wavering in New York — convinced that ap- 
peals to the justice or generosity of Britain were fruitless — 
coalesced with the Whigs, and this province from that time 
made common cause with her sister colonies. The middle 
and southern colonies, while they still believed that the 
conflicting pretensions of Britain and America might be 
accommodated, — and earnestly desired reconciliation, — with 
one voice declared their preference of war in its worst form 
— even civil war — to submission, and the royal government 
in all of them was at an end. In Virginia, the seizure of 
powder at Williamsburg, by Lord Dunmore, caused a rup- 
ture, which was preceded by acrimonious contests between 
that nobleman and her Assembly; and his calumny, that 
the Virginian planters rebelled to escape payment of their 
debts to British merchants, his intrigues with the Indians 
to gain them to the royal cause, and, above all, his atrocious 
offer of freedom to the slaves who should rise against their 
masters, provoked most violent indignation. The governors 
of North and South Carolina, having endeavored to incite 
the slaves of those colonies to insurrection, and intrigued to 
bring their back-settlers to the royal standard, fled inglori- 
ously from the storm of wrath these measures awakened. 

Such was the state of public affairs when the delegates 
from the colonies organized the General Congress of 1775, 
on the 10th of May, of that year, by the choice of Peyton 
Randolph, of Virginia, for president, and Charles Thomson, 
of Pennsylvania, for secretary. Mr. Read, Mr, Rodney, 
and Mr. McKean represented the lower counties on Dela- 
ware in this body. Their credentials were as follows : 

"Lower Counties on Delaware, in Assembly, March 
16th, 1775, A.M. 

^'Resolved, That the honorable Coesar Rodney, Thomas 
McKean, and George Read, Esquires, be and they are hereby 
appointed and authorized to represent this government at 
the American Congress, proposed to be held at the city of 
Philadelphia on the 10th day of May next, or at any other 

8 



106 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 

time or place, with full power to them, or any two of them, 
together with the delegates from the other American colo- 
nies, to concert and agree upon such further measures as 
shall appear to them best calculated for the accommodation 
of the unhappy differences between Great Britain and the 
colonies, on a constitutional foundation, which the House 
most ardently wish for, and that they report their proceed- 
ings to the next session of the General Assembly. 
"True copy of minutes of Assembly. 
"Dayid Thomson, 

''Clerk to the AssemhlyT'^ 

I regret that but four of Mr. Read's letters, written in 
1775, have come into my possession; the first of them is 
addressed, as they all are, to Mrs. Eead, and dated a^t Phila- 
delphia. 

"May 18th, n75. 

'•My dear G , You too justly hint at my inattention 

to this kind of correspondence, but the life I lead here will 
in some measure account for it. I prepare in the morning 
for the meeting at nine o'clock, and often do not return to 
my lodgings till that time at night. We sit in Congress 
generally till half-])ast three o'clock, and . once till five 
o'clock, and then [I] dine at the City Tavern,-)" where a few 
of us have established a table for each day in the week, 
save Saturday, when there is a general dinner. Our daily 
table is formed by the following persons, at present, to wit: 
Messrs. Randolph, Lee, Washington, and Harrison, of Vir- 
ginia, Alsop of New York, Chase of Maryland, and Rodney 
and Read. A dinner is ordered for the number, eight, and 
whatever is deficient of that number is to be paid fur at two 
shillings and sixpence a head, and each that attends i)ays 
only the expense of the da}''. I have dined there thrice in 
this way, as I find it very disagreeable to keep a table 
covered for me at these late hours at my brother's. 

" I am so apt to put off the beginning to write to the last 
moment that I miss my opportunity. 1 must break through 

* Journals of Congress, 1774, '75, and '76, vol. i. p. 72. 

f The City Tavern was situated upon Second and Walnut Streets, 
was erected a.d. 1770, and was a distinguished eating- aud boarding- 
bouse. — Watson-s Annals of Philadelphia, p. 403. 



OF GEORGE READ. 107 

this practice or I shall not rnend. At this moment the sun 
is rising [and I am writing], though I got into my bed the 
Last night just as the clock struck twelve, being told that 
the stage sets off at six this morning. 

"I drank tea with Mrs. Vining yesterday, having seen 
her at the commencement of the college in this place, 
where the members of Congress attended by special invi- 
tation. 

"As to news, you will see the depositions relating to the 
attack of the troops in their expedition to Lexington and 
Concord. These were sent to Congress, and by them or- 
dered for publication in Bradford's paper, which you get 
by the post.* I inclose the 'Evening Post.' Last night an 
express came to town from one Colonel Arnold, informing 
that, with a detachment of men from the colony of Connec- 
ticut, he had taken possession of the fort Ticonderoga,-j- an 
important pass on Lake Champhain, which, if kept, will pre- 
vent any army from Canada. I have not heard the par- 
ticulars. It is reported that Dr. Cooper, President of the 
College at New York, and J. Rivington, have retired on 

* These depositions were sent to the Continental Congress by the 
Provincial Congress of Massachusetts, and declare that the British 
troops were the aggressors at Lexington and Concord. It is true, 
depositions of British officers were published : according to which the 
Americans fired first, but to which they replied, it was improbable 
undisciplined militiamen would attack a far more numerous body of 
trained soldiers. Admitting these depositions to be equally reliaJile, 
and neutralizing each other, or putting them aside as irreconcilable, 
there remains no evidence but the circumstance of improbability in this 
ease, which must decide it in favor of the Americans. The American 
depositions show that British soldiers on their return behaved with 
great barbarity, plundering and burning houses, killing helpless and 
aged men, and turning women in childbed into the open air. 

One of these deponents, Hannab Bradish, sets forth her loss with 
great particularity. This is the list .of articles she missed when the 
British soldiers left her house, and which she verily believed they took 
with them : one rich brocade gown, called a negligee, one lutestring 
gown, one white quilt, one pair of brocade shoes, three shifts, eight white 
aprons, three caps, one case of ivory knives and forks, and several other 
articles. — Journals of Go7}gress, IIH, "75, '76, pp. 72-89. 

f Fort Ticonderoga, now in ruins, is situated on an eminence on the 
west side of Lake Champlain, just north of the entrance into it of the 
outlet from Lake George, fifteen miles south of Crown Point, which 
were taken by Generals Allen and Arnold, then colonels, 10th May, 
1775. These posts have been called the " gate" and " key" of Canada. 
— Encyciopsedia Americana, vol. xii. p. 252. 



lOS LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 

board a man-of-war there; that James Delancey, Peggy 
Allen's husband, is scouting through the by-roads, towards 
Colonel Johnston's, in the Mohawk country; and that Oliver 
Delancey, captain of a troop of horse, that is coming over, 
has been on a visit to his father, but secretly retired, and is 
travelling in disguise through the back parts of the country 
towards Boston, and [I shall be] much [surprised] if he is 
not interrupted before he gets to his journey's end. 

" Your friends here are all well. I dined at Gurney's 
last Sunday. 

"Most affectionately yours, 

"George Read. 

"George must trust for an answer to his letter." 

Mr, Read writes again. May 23d : 

" My dear G , That you may not charge me with in- 
attention, I take pen in hand, at a late hour, to chat with 
you, before I retire to my nest, as Mr. Van Luvenigh, whom 
I met on the Common this evening, returns to your town 
to-morrow, and promised to call uj)on me. 

" I really begin to tire of my confinement. I attended 
at nine o'clock in the forenoon [to-day], and did not stir 
till after five; this is common; could we separate at three, 
I could bear it tolerably well. On Monday I dined with a 
sel(^ct company of two or three persons at Mr. Dickinson's, 
w^iere you were inquired after. He was, and indeed still 
is, much affected with the loss of his j'oungest child — the 
surviving one is a fine, hearty girl. I had an invitation to 
dine at Mr. James Allen's the same day, but subsequent to 
the other. An invitation is sent me this evening by Andrew 
Allen to dine on Saturday; but we distress these people by 
our late hours, though there is but little entertaining at this 
Congress compared to the last. The delegates are not such 
novelties now. 

" There is a paragraph in the New York paper, brought 
by this day's post, that the regiment of horse, expected from 
England, had refused to embark, and also that the troops 
from Ireland were stopped on occasion of some disturbance 
there, — very lucky for America, if this be true; as it was 
our great dependence to save fighting here that the people 
at home would rouse and exert themselves to prevent a 
civil war here ; however, no great de^Dendence can be put on 



OF GEORGE BEAD. 109 

this intelligence. A private letter from New York mentions 
that one regiment was detained, but the rest were coming, 
which, or whether either is true we cannot learn with any 
certainty yet. 

"James Read had the ague yesterday; the rest of the 
family and all your friends here are well. 

"I bid you good-night, and am yours, most affectionately, 

"George Read, Philadelphia. 

"Kiss our little ones for me. 

" Per Mr. Van Luvenigh." 

The next letter was written 13th July, 1775. 

"My dear G , I did expect you would have been 

agreeably surprised by a visit from Mrs. Biddle, as she, with 
her daughter, Mr. Biddle, and your brother, John Ross, set 
off in a pilot-boat on Friday morning, got to Chester that 
evening, and were to have proceeded on, but upon examin- 
ing the pilot's boy, discovered that he had his master's order 
to return the next day, at all events; this, and a very warm 
night, determined their return here yesterday; and I find 
Mr. Biddle has determined to proceed home upon the first 
alteration of the weather from the extreme heat that pre- 
vails now, and this I think is right. 

"In the present situation of the members of the Congress, 
and the state of the business before them, it is highly proba- 
ble that we shall adjourn for some time. This is but just 
talked of; the major part of the six middle colonies are for 
it; however, some new business may frustrate the expecta- 
tion of some persons of an early adjournment. 

"The Parliament was prorogued on the 26th of May for 
two months. The king's speech upon that occasion has 
come over; there was nothing particular in it. The news 
of the Lexington battle had not got home then, but it is 
reported came two days after, — to wit, the 28th. This is a 
mere verbal account. 

"Your nephew, James Ross, will command a company 
of riflemen, — one company only had been ordered to be raised 
in the county of Lancaster; however. Jemmy undertook to 
raise the second, and they have been accepted of by Con- 
gress. I have heard nothing from Colonel Thompson, — we 
expect him every day. 

"The Congress have received no letter from General 



110 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 

Washington since his arrival at tlie camp. The account of 
their reception there, mentioned in Bradford's paper of yes- 
terday, is said to be wrote by Griffin, General Lee's aid-de- 
camp. The list of the slain* on both sides, as mentioned 
in the same paper, came from Joseph Read, the lawyer, of 
this place. He went from hence with the general, and now 
acts as his secretary. 

"Your friends are all well. I Avish to share the cool 
breezes of New Castle with you. I grow impatient, but 
this only increases my uneasiness. Kiss our little ones, and 
believe me yours, most affectionately, 

"George Read, Philadelphia." 

The Congress recommended the training of the militia, 
and the raising of Continental troops, for which the neces- 
sary measures were adopted, and provided for the organiza- 
tion of the higher departments of the army, and adopted 
rules for its government, though as yet raised under the 
authority of the colonies, who furnished the quotas which 
composed it. They agreed to a manifesto or declaration of 
the causes and necessity for taking up arms. They author- 
ized the issue of three millions of bills of credit for the ex- 
penses of the war. They adopted a petition to the king, 
and addresses to the inhabitants of Great. Britain, to the 
Assembly of Jamaica, and to the people of Ireland, having 
previously approved a letter to the oppressed Canadians, 
reported by a committee of their body, and ordered it to be 
translated into French, and distributed.^ 

* At Bunker's Hill, I suppose. 

f "I took my seat iu the Congress of IVtS (June 21st), and was 
added, with Mr. Dickinson, to the committee appointed to prt^pare 'a 
declaration of the causes of taking- up arms.' I prepared a draft of the 
declaration (which had been previously drawn, and recommitted because 
unsatisfactory). It was too strong for Mr. Dickinson. He still retained 
the hope of reconciliation with tiie mother-country, and was unwilling 
that it should be lessened by ofleusive statements. He was so honest 
a man, and so able a one, that he was greatly indulged, even by those 
who could not feel his scruples. We therefore requested him to take 
the paper, and put it into a form he could approve. He did so, prepar- 
ing an entire new. statement, preserving of the former the last four par- 
agraphs, and the last of the preceding one. We approved, and presented 
it to Congress, who accepted it. 

"Congress gave a signal proof of their indulgence to ]\Ir. Dickinson, 
and of their great desire not to go too fast for any respectable part of 
our body, iu permitting him to draw their second 'Petition to the King' 



OF GEORGE READ. HI 

On the 15th June George Washington was unanimously 
elected, by Congress, commander-in-chief of all the forces 
raised or to be raised for the defence of American liberty, 
and on the 16 th of that month accepted this high and re- 
sponsible trust with the modesty and disinterestedness 
which distinguished him. He took his departure immedi- 
ately for the army, and arrived, about the beginning of July, 
at Cambridge, its head-quarters, where he assumed the chief 
command. 

Ctmgress took a recess from the 1st of August to the 5th 
of September, but did not, for want of a quorum, recom- 
mence business till the loth of that month. (Journal, vol. i. 
pp. 180, 181.) 

General Washington was at the head of about fourteen 
thousand five hundred men, but disorganized, and inade- 
quately supplied with powdA- and arms, especially bayonets, 
tents, and clothes, and without engineers, and with a small 
supply of working-tools. The American army occupied 
both sides of the Charles River, its right on the high 
grounds near Roxbury, extending from thence towards Dor- 
chester; and its left was protected by the river Mystic or 
Medford. The space thus occupied was about twelve miles. 
Boston stands on a neck of land which extends northeast- 
ward into the ocean, and is joined by a narrow isthmus 
to the continent,' which isthmus is bounded by the Atlantic 
to the south, and the Charles River to the north. The 
American and British armies labored on their works to 
strengthen them, with some skirmishing, but with little loss. 
General Washington was anxious .to attack the works of 
the enemy, being strongly inclined to think they could be 
stormed, but a council of his officers not advising an attempt 
so hazardous, the blockade of Boston was continued. 

While Mr. Read and his brother-in-law, George Ross, a 

according to bis own ideas, and passing it with liardly any amendment. 
The disgust against this humility was general, and Mr. Dickinson's 
delight at its passage was the circumstance that reconciled them to it. 
The vote being passed, — although further observation upon it was out of 
order, — he could not refrain from rising and expressing his satisfaction, 
and concluded by saying, 'There is but one word, Mr. President, in the 
paper I disapprove, and that is the word Congress.'' On which Ben. 
Harrison rose and said, 'There is but one word in the paper, Mr. 
President, which I approve, and that is the word Congress.'' " — Writings 
of Thomas Jefferson, vol. i. pp. 10, 11. 



112 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 

signer of the Declaration of Independence, in conjunction 
with the sages of Congress, were giving tone and direction 
to the ardor of our armies, four of their family were assert- 
ing the liberty of their country in the field: Colonel Bedford, 
afterwards Governor of Delaware; Colonel Read, of Phila- 
delphia, who a few years since was gathered to his fathers, 
aged almost fourscore years; James, son of George Ross; 
and Colonel, afterwards General, Thompson, who had mar- 
ried a sister of Mr. Read. The following letter from Gen- 
eral Thompson, who, at the head of the first rifle regiment 
raised in Pennsylvania, joined the American army besieg- 
ing Boston, indicates the sprightly courage of the Irishman, 
while it exhibits in pleasing characters the naivete of the 
soldier. It was written from the American camp, 10th of 
September, 1775: 

* 

"Dear Brother, — I would have written to you before this 
time, but was prevented h/ being very much hurried when 
I first came here, and I knew you had accounts every day 
from the people here, who had much more time to write. 

"I am fixed at present on the most beautiful spot of 
ground in the world, as I can see from the door of my tent 
all our well-regulated army from Roxbury to Winter Hill, 
and at the same time look down upon the enemies of our 
country, confined within the narrow bounds of Boston and 
Bunker Hill, and further, you may depend, they shall not 
pass, had they Lord North and [all] the troops in the pay 
of Great Britain to assist them. 

"Our troops are well supplied, and in high spirits, and 
long much to come to action; but I am doubtful we shall 
have little to do in the fighting way. 

"I am very happy in all my commanding officers. I 
always had a high esteem for the commander-in-chief, and 
higher now than ever. I am every day more pleased with 
General Lee; our country owes much to him, and happy 
we are that a man of his great knowledge assists in the 
command of our army. 

"They have appointed me the second colonel in the 
Continental army, and Colonel Fry, that is the first, does 
the duty of a brigadier-general : so that if my friends take 
the necessary care for me, I may soon be promoted either 
in Contiaental or Provincial Congress. 



OF GEORGE READ. 113 

"All the news is in cannonading, and a few bombs, which 
are the most harmless sport in life; indeed, I have seen more 
mischief done by throwing the same number of snow-balls, 
but don't tell cousin Gurney* so, or he will bring over the 
poor devils he killed in Germany, last war, to show that 
people have been put to death by cannons in other parts of 
the world, though the Americans are proof against them. 

"Let me hear from you. My best compliments wait on 
Mrs. Read, your dear little ones, and all friends, and 
believe [me], dear George, to be your very affectionate 
brother, 

"William Thompson. 

"P. S. — My love to my brother John [Ross]. I know 
he will be pleased to have his liberty secured to him, what- 
ever he may say to the contrary." 

General Thompson again wrote to Mr. Read. 

"Prospect Hill, October 26tli, 11T5. 

" Dear BROTnER,^I received your kind letter, for which 
I return you my thanks. 

" Soon after my arrival here I delivered an account of 
the five thousand dollars to his Excellency General Wash- 
ington, which he says he sent to the Congress. All the 
cash I paid the officers and soldiers of the regiment, the 
blankets, hunting-shirts, ritle-guns, etc., I have charged to 
the respective companies, and I am certain no mistake can 
arise in that quarter; and if it appears that anything is 
brought in the account from the different committees, and 
charged before, it will be found out when the accounts are 
compared, and I am certain I can, on seeing the state of the 
whole accounts, prevent any loss to the public. The cash 
I paid the wagoners I have ordered to be stopped out of 
their accounts, and I believe have mentioned it on the cer- 
tificates which I gave them. I would not have made a 
charge of my own tent, etc., but I find that tents, blankets, 
etc. are all charged to the public by the officers of the army, 
so I have followed the good example. 

" I shall write you and brother George fully to-morrow, 

* Son-in-law of John Ross, and formerly an officer in the British 
army. 



114 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 

by Mr. Jesse Lukens. All I can sa}^ at present in regard to 
military matters, is — we are plagued keeping the regulars 
in, and the poor devils are as much put to it to keep us out, 
and so ends my story, and so will end our campaign. 
"And am yours, very sincerely, 

" William TnoMrsoN.'^' 
"George Read, Esquire." 

The possession of Canada was a favorite object of Con- 
gress, who did not overrate its importance. The invasion 
of New York might be anticipated from Canada, and at- 
tempts were actually making to that end, and a great quan- 
tity of military stores was deposited at Quebec. The Cana- 
dians were disaffected to Great Britain, in consequence of 
the recent Acts of Parliament, in relation to their province, 
and would probably join the standard of the colonists, 
should they anticipate the British in occupying it, with an 
army that could protect them. General Schuyler was 
ordered to enter Canada. This distinguished officer obeyed, 
but in an early stage of the campaign was totally' disabled 
by disease, and the heroic Montgomery, next to him in rank, 
assumed the command of the invading army. He reduced 
St. John's and Montreal, and with a force, diminished to 
three hundred men by the necessity of garrisoning those 
towns and Chambly, he resolved to attack Quebec. In the 
mean time Colonel Arnold, detached in August by Wash- 
ington, with a force of about one thousand men, was march- 
ing upon that city.f After ascending the Kennebec River, 
as far as the lake of St. Peter, he traversed the wilderness 
between the frontier of New England and the St. Lawrence, 
overcoming almost incredible difficulties, scaling rugged 
and lofty hills, cutting roads through nearly impervious 
forests, wading morasses, and hauling bateaux against rapid 
streams. On the 9tli of November, Arnold, his force di- 
minished one-third by the return of his rear-guard, to escape 
starvation, arrived at Point Levi; but high winds delayed 
his crossing the St. Lawrence, and other untoward circum- 

* For a notice of General Thompson, see Appendix tothis chapter. 

f As Charlton's force was insufficient to defend successfully both Mon- 
treal and Quebec, the object of "Washington was to reduce him to a 
painful dilemma — to choose which he sliould leave to be captured by 
the American invaders. 



OF GEORGE READ. 115 

stances prevented an immediate assault upon Quebec, which 
there is strong reason to believe would have been successful. 
Retreating to Point aux Trembles, twenty miles above 
Quebec, he awaited the arrival of Montgomery, who, as 
expeditiously as possible, joined him, and advancing with 
their united forces, but a handful, set down before Quebec. 
Fourteen days before the assault upon Quebec, Mnjor 
Macpherson, one of Montgomery's aids, wrote the following 
letter to Mr. Read : 

" My dear Sir, — A few days ago I was favored with ^ 
your letter of the 11th of last month. I esteem myself 
much obliged by the friendly assurances it contains. 

" The general's dispatches will inform you of our former 
motions, which I dare say will meet the approbation of 
Congress, especially as we have been successful. 

'' Yesterday I was sent Avith a flag to try for the last 
time if Mr. Charlton would give over an useless defence, 
and thereby save the town and garrison from the distress 
of a blockade, or the horror and carnage of an assault. On 
my appearing before the walls a message was sent to him, 
and an officer soon after informed me I should not be ad- 
mitted. I then asked if the governor would send some 
one to receive my letter, I was told ' to make the best of 
my way off; for he would receive nothing from General 
Montgomery.' To this I answered, ' that Mr. Charlton 
would remember this by-and-by.' It was with difficulty 
some of the people were restrained from firing on me, dur- 
ing this parley (which lasted a quarter of an hour), as they 
had done twice on flags sent by Colonel Arnold. But the 
most of those who were on the wall seemed disposed to . 
listen to terms, as far as I could guess from their behavior. 
The officer who first appeared had agreed to my carrying 
my side-arms into town. But the general rendered our 
negotiation of no effect, by forbidding either me or my arms 
to enter. I hope this attempt, fruitless as it was, will open 
the eyes of the people to his conduct, and show them the 
folly of suffering his madness or pride to sacrifice their lives 
and properties by not hearing terms, which, if he did not 
like, he might refuse. But the truth is, that he is afraid of 
their receiving information of our conduct, or intentions, as 
he well knows the inhabitants do garrison duty only be- 



116 LIFE AND COBEESPONDENCE 

cause lie and his emissaries have told them that we have 
plundered every place which we have passed tlirough ex- 
cept Montreal, which they say was redeemed for £16,000 
sterling. 

"Notwithstanding the advanced season, I hope we shall 
carry the resolve of Congress, of the 11th of November, 
into execution, by taking Quebec,* though considering you 
did not then know that we were in possession of St. John's, 
it might be thought you rated our abilities too high. But 
f.^ to willing minds nothing is difficult, and to a victorious 
army nothing is impossible. You see I have learned to 
gasconade a little. The air of the country is infectious in 
that particular. If the French could but do what they 
say, their attempts for universal empire would not have 
been so fruitless. 

" I am happy to hear New Castle is not a deserted village, 
and hope my friends there will be free from apprehension 
of men-of-war during the winter. My best compliments 
attend them all, and particularly your connections. Be 
pleased to make my respects to Mr. McKean, Brigadier 
McKinley, and Brigadier Rodney, and believe me ever your 
most faithful, humble servant, 

"John Macpherson. 
"Before Quebec, 16th December, 1775. 

" George Read, Esquire. 

"I had almost forgot to mention to you General Mont- 
gomery's writing to General Schuyler to recommend me for 
a majority in the new levies in Pennsylvania, or our govern- 
ment. I am tired of leading a life of so much ease, while 
other officers are exposed to hardships almost double what 
I experience. Head-quarters are extremely agreeable, but I 
wish for the roughs as well as the smooths of a soldier's 
life."t 

Before Mr. Read received this letter Quebec was assaulted 
by the American army unsuccessfully, and the brave Mont- 

* "November 11th, IttS. Resolved, That the fortifications of Que- 
bec, in case it conies into our hands, be repaired, and furnished with 
such provisions, arms, ammunition, and artillery as may be necessary 
for its security." — Journals of Congress, 1774, '75, '76, vol. i. p. 230. 

f See Appendix C, notice of jNlajor Macphersou, 



OF GEORGE READ. 117 

gomery, with Macpherson and Cheesman (his aids) num- 
bered with the dead. 

Mr. Read, 17th December, 1775, writes as follows: 

"My dear G , I have yours of the 14th, which I 

was waiting with impatience for, as I began to suspect that 
Tatlow would have laid up his boats. As soon as this shall "^ 
happen you must make use of the post for the conveyance 
of your letters. I find that the news of raising a battalion 
in our government has spread among you by the persons 
you mention as intending to apply for offices; perhaps, 
when they come to know that their service will not be con- 
fined to the government, but [they] may be ordered to the 
most distant parts of the continent, and that as soon as they 
are raised, it may repress the ardor of some of them. 

"We have had no certain accounts from any part of 
Canada since the capitulation of Montreal, therefore what 
you see in the papers is not to be relied on. 

"I doubt you will not see me in the beginning of the 
holidays. An adjournment of Congress is much talked of, 
and wished by some, but really there is so much that must 
be done before a separation that I cannot give a hint of the 
time. 

"I was yesterday put upon a committee that is to meet 
every evening at six o'clock, which may be obliged to sit 
regularly for ten days to come, and as I am considered 
a great absentee heretofore, I must attend constantly for 
awhile.* 

"Your friends are all well. My love to our little ones, 
and believe me yours, most afiectionately, 

"George Read." 

On Saturday, December 30th, 1775, Congress adjourned to 
Monday, January 1st, 1776, when they met, in ignorance of 
the repulse and death of General Montgomery, and hope- 
ful of his success. 1 liey would have been startled indeed 
could they have raised the curtain which hid the future, 
and descried events which were to make the new year, on 

* Mr. Read, December 14th (uot 16th), was appointed by ballot, with 
others, on the committee of thirteen, to carry into execution the resolutions 
of Congress for fitting out a naval armament. — Journals of Congress, 
1774, '75, '76, vol. i. p. 273. 



118 LIFE AND COBJRESPOXDENCE 

which they entered, one of the most remarkable in our 
annals, — the evacuation of Boston, the Declaration of Inde- 
pendence, the battle and defeat of Brooklyn, the loss of 
Long Island and the city of New York, the capture of Fort 
Washington, the evacuation of Fort Lee, the retreat of our 
army through Jersey, and the sudden irradiation, as the 
year ended, of the gloom of disaster by that brilliant stroke 
of generalship at Trenton, which revived the waning con- 
fidence of his countrymen in the American commander-in- 
chief and restored hope when their cause seemed lost. 



OF GEORGE BEAD. HQ 



APPENDICES TO CHAPTER 11. 



IS^OTICE OF GENERAL THOMPSON. 

William Thompson was by birth an Irishman. He emigrated, at 
an early period of the last century, to Pennsylvania, and settled on a 
fai'm he subsequently called "Soldier's Retreat," near Carlisle, in Cum- 
berland County, of that State, then a frontier settlement. Agriculture 
did not afford sufficient occupation for a man of his active and intrepid 
temper, he, therefore, while a farmer, was also a surveyor; and to be a 
skillful one, as he was, must have received at least a good education in 
the common branches of learning. The surveyor, in the frontier settle- 
ments of the last century, was a very different person from the surveyor 
of the present time. Instead of a justice of the peace, a country school- 
master, or a scrivener running the lines of farms in long-settled districts, 
with no more hardship than being occasionally incommoded by a sum- 
mer's sun or winter's wind, or having to wade a swamp, or being 
wetted by a thunder-gust, he was employed to locate grants of land in 
unsettled territory.. He required a party of men, not only sufficient for 
the work of surveying, but others for their protection, hunting, cutting 
roads, felling giant trees, bridging streams, and camping; and must 
have been qualified to lead them by bravery, activity, enterprise, vigi- 
lance, prudence, and providence, with the eye quick to perceive the 
character of the country he traversed. For weeks or months he threaded 
forests never before penetrated by the white man, exposed to the deadly 
fang of the rattlesnake, or spring of the panther, or arrow of the red 
man, lurking to add to his trophies more scalps of the pale-faces. The 
influence of the grand and beautiful in the scenery of the solitudes he 
e.xplored was salutary, for it purified and elevated. 

With such training, it excites no surprise to find William Thompson 
serving in the war between France and England, prosecuted in America, 
for the magnificent prize of western territory each coveted. 

Fort Granby, on the Pennsylvania border, had been surprised by the 
French and Indians, and its garrison, tottering under its stores with 
which their exultant captors loaded them as beasts of burden, were 
hurried away captives. More than a thousand whites had fallen beneath 
the tomahawk, their humble but happy dwellings given to the flames, 
their wives and children sharing their fate or made prisoners. A place 
of rendezvous of these devilish Indians was Kittanning, on the Alleghany, 
a river which has its highest sources in Potter County, Pennsylvania, 
and like a coy girl, — affecting to shun the youth of her choice, — running 
there a few miles, it enters New York, but after a short course in that 



120 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 

State, again turning into Penns3^1vania, flows through a mountainous 
and romantic region, till, mingling with the Monongahela, they form the 
Ohio, which the French, charmed by its limpid waters and the beautiful 
scenery of its banks, loved to call the "belle riviere." An expedition 
of three hundred provincials, under command of Colonel Armstrong, 
was concerted against Kittanning. His troops rendezvoused at Fort 
Shirley, on the Juniata River, one hundred and fifty miles from Phila- 
delphia, from which post he moved August 30th, 1756. Their march 
through a wilderness was conducted with secrecy and celerity. Arm- 
strong joined the party he had sent in advance, with his main force, 
at Frankstown, and they arrived at a point distant six miles from Kit- 
tanning in the evening of September 7th. Discovering a party of In- 
dians, Armstrong did not attack them, fearing, if he did so, he should 
alarm those at Kittanning; but passing them unnoticed, left twelve 
men under Lieutenant Hogg to assail them on the morrow at daybreak. 
Continuing his march with skill, equal to that of the stealthy red men, 
he struck the Alleghany one hundred perches below Kittanning at three 
o'clock in the morning of September 8th, guided by the whoops of the 
Indians, who were celebrating by a scalp-dance their recent successful 
marauds. That the reader may have the whole scene before him, let 
him picture to himself a clearing, thronged with Indians, warriors, 
squaws, and children; the braves first dancing singly, and chanting 
their exploits, and as they ended striking the war-post in the centre of 
the assembly; then all dancing together, flourishing their knives, with 
whoops and yells truly demoniac. The dogs, off"ered in sacrifice, had 
been eaten, and the exhausted revellers had sunk into slumber in the 
false and fatal confidence that their manitous, whom they had propitiated 
and invoked would keep around them sure watch and ward. The night 
was warm and beautiful, moonlit and calm, and a mist from the Alle- 
ghany, like a veil of gossamer, softened, without hiding from view, the 
hills, and vales, and forests. The setting of the moon — so poetically 
termed, by some Indian tribes, the " sun of night" — Avas the signal for 
the attack. The Indians were divided, part being with their chiefs, 
Captain Jacobs and " Shengis," in the village, and the rest in an open 
corn-field, which the heat of the night made them prefer to their houses 
for a sleeping-place. The attack began by the provincials charging the 
Indians in the corn-field, through which, having killed several of the 
enemy, they entered Kittanning. The Indians, though completely sur- 
pri.'sed, defended their houses bravely. Armstrong fired them. They 
refused, though offered quarters, to surrender. The chiefs chanted their 
death-songs, while the horror of the scene was enhanced by frequent 
explosions of gunpowder, of which there was a large quantity recently 
received from the French, — '' with which explosions," Armstrong wrote, 
"he and his men were agreeably entertained." Of the Indians, a ^q\\, 
who burst through the windows of the burning houses, were shot, 
among them Captain Jacobs, and the king's son, a child of Anak, said 
to have been seven feet high. The victory was complete. Thirty or 
forty Indians were killed, Kittanning destroved, and eleven prisoners 
released. Colonel Armstrong was wounded in the shoulder, and Cap- 
tain, afterwards General, jMercer wounded in the arm, and left behind, 
though he reached the settled country afterwards. The provincials, 
fearing an attack from Fort Du Quesne, — about forty miles from Kittan- 



OF GEORGE BEAD. 121 

ning-, — immediately after their victory regained their horses, which they 
had left secured in their rear, and, moving rapidly, arrived safely at Fort 
Cumberland. General Thompson was a C(jm missioned officer of this 
expedition. A silver medal was struck by the city of Philadelphia, and 
given to Colonel Armstrong and each of his commissioned officers, to 
express the public joy and gratitude for this success, and to commemo- 
rate their exploit. 1 have befoi'e me General Thompson's medal, which 
was given to me by my mother because I was named after him. It is 
blackened by time. Its device is "an officer followed by two soldiers; 
the officer pointing to a soldier shooting from behind a tree, and an In- 
dian prostrate before him. In the background Indian houses are seen 
burning. Its legend is 'Kittanning destroyed by Colonel Armstrong, 
September 8th, 1156.' Its reverse, the arms of Philadelphia, with the 
legend, ' The gift of the corporation of the city of Philadelphia.' "* 

I have before me the commission of William Thompson, Esquire, as 
captain of a troop of light horse in the first battalion of the Pennsyl- 
vania regiment, in the pay of this province, given under the hand and 
seal of Lieutenant-Governor Denny, at Philadelphia, the fourth day of 
May, 1758. 

" On the 1th of October, 1163, at the close of the M^ar between Great 
Britain and France, in America, the King of Great Britain issued his 
proclamation, testifying his sense and approbation of the conduct and 
bravery of the officers and soldiers of his armies, and, to reward the 
same, commanded and empowered the Governors of his three new 
colonies, and all others the Governors of the several provinces of the 
continent of North America, to grant, without fee or reward, to such 
reduced officers as had served in North America during the war then 
lately preceding, and to such private soldiers as then had been, or should 
•afterwards be, disbanded in America, and were actually residing there, 
and should personally apply for the same, the following quantities of 
land, subject, at the expiration of ten years, to the same quit-rents as 
other lauds were subject to in the provinces in which they should be 
granted, and also subject to the same conditions of cultivation and im- 
provement: viz., to every person having the rank of field-officer, 5000 
acres; to every captain, 3000 acres; to every subaltern or staff-officer, 
2000 acres; to every non-commissioned officer, 200 acres; and to every 
private man, 50 acres ; which proclamation was transmitted by the 
King of Great Britain to his several Governors in North America, and 
by them published, in order to give full information of this gracious 
decree. In consequence of this information, a number of the officers of the 
three Pennsylvania battalions who served during the war terminated 
in 1163, met in Lancaster in 1113, and deputed General Thompson to 
locate the quantities of land to which they were severally entitled, under 
the proclamation of the British king, in one of the royal governments, 
as they could not be obtained in Pennsylvania or any other proprietary 
government, and to secure their titles thereto in the usual manner. On 
the 16th of December, 1113, an order was made by the Governor and 



* Holmes's Annals, vol. ii. p. 73 ; Collections of the New York Historical Society, 
vol. iii. pp. 337, 398, 399, 195; Western Annals, pp. 139-146; Irving's Life of 
Washington, vol. i. pp. 221, 222, 223 ; Lewis and Clark's Travels, p. 66 ; Flint's 
Geography, vol. i. p. 395. 

9 



122 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 

Council of Virginia, pursuant to tbe before-mentioned proclamation, 
ordering that tbe officers and soldiers therein named should be at liberty 
to locate their lands wherever they should desire, so as not to interfere 
with legal surveys or actual settlements, and that every officer should 
be entitled to a distinct survey for every thousand acres, and defining 
who should be deemed settlers. In lVt4 General Thompson proceeded 
down the Ohio, with a large number of men to protect him from the 
Indians, and, with great expense and with great danger to himself, made 
surveys on the Salt Lick River — then in Virginia, now in Kentucky, — 
an uninhabited country, free of claims by settlement or prior grant — of a 
large body of land, and divided the same into tracts sufficient to answer 
the claims of the said associated officers. General Thompson received 
a deputation from the College of William and Mary — holding tbe office 
of surveyor-general in Virginia — to make these surveys, and when he 
had completed the draught of them, and had made all the necessary 
arrangements with the officers for the completion of their titles, went 
to Richmond, Virginia, in 1775, for the purpose of returning these 
surveys and having them accepted ; but the previous condition was re- 
quired of him that he should take an oath of allegiance to the King of 
Great Britain, which, as a patriot, and about to take the command of a 
rifle-regiment, at Boston, to act against the troops of the British king, 
he could not possibly comply with : consequently the surveys could not 
be accepted and patents issued." Thus he lost his land, but kept 
his honor. " General Thompson and many of the officers, claimants 
under the proclamation of 1763, serving in the American armies in the 
war of our Revolution, could not prosecute their claims until after the 
peace of 1788, when the survivors of them met, and, having learned 
that a law had been passed by the Legislature of Virginia, in 1779, 
declaring that all surveys made under the royal proclamation of 1763 
not returned to the land-office thereof within twelve months after the 
enactment of the law, should be void and forfeited, and that the lands 
covered by their surveys had been granted to other applicants, deputed 
Pr. John Morgan to represent their case to the Legislature of Virginia, 
for redress, either by a repeal of this law, most unjust under the circum- 
stances of their case, or by the grant of other lands as an equivalent ; 
but a committee of the House of Delegates of Virginia, after fully 
recognizing the facts before stated, in their report to the House recom- 
mended the rejection of the petition presented for the relief of these 
officers, without assigning any reason therefor, and their report was 
adopted by the House."* 

The following duly certified copy of the resolution and proceedings 
thereon of the Virginia House of Delegates, on the application for reltef 
of the officers claiming lands under the proclamation of 1763, establishes 
so indubitably the facts set forth in the foregoing extract from their 



* From the retition of " sundrj' officers, who served in tlie British army during 
the war between France and Great Britain which originated in 1755, to the 
United States House of Kepresentatives, February, 180g', fur a law to autliorize 
them to locate their claims in the western unsettled territory of the United States, 
the lands ceded to them by the States being equitably thereto subject." This peti- 
tion was referred, 2d April, 1806, to the committee on public lands, who made a 
report on the 9th of that month, which was read, agreed to, and the consideration 
of tile petition postponed indefinitely. The petition, thus indorsed, is before me. 



OF GEORGE READ. 123 

petition to the United States House of Representatives, that I insert it, 
though thereby subjecting the reader to the repetition of somewhat that 
has been already stated. 

" Virginia, General Assembly, begun and held at the public buildings, 
in the city of Richmond, on Monday, the 20th of October, in the year 
of our Lord 1783, being the 2d session of the present General Assembly. 

"Mr. Mann Page reported from the committee of propositions and 
grievances that the committee had, according to order, had under con- 
sideration the memorial and petition of sundry officers of the Pennsyl- 
vania Line, who served in the war which commenced in America in the 
year 1T55, to them referred, and had agreed upon a report, and had 
come to a resolution thereupon, which he read in his place^ and after- 
wards delivered in at the clerk's table, where the same was again twice 
read and agreed to by the House, as foUoweth : 

" It appears to your committee that officers of the State of Pennsyl- 
vania, by Dr. John Morgan, their Agent, and one of the said officers, 
made application in the year 1714 to the Governor and Council of Vir- 
ginia for leave and permission to survey and lay off the portions of land 
which they were respectively entitled to, under the proclamation of the 
King of Great Britain, issued in the year 1763 : that the Governor and 
Council were of opinion that the claim of the said officers to lands, 
under the said proclamation, was well founded, and a commission was 
thereupon granted by the masters of William and Mary College to 
Captain William Thompson, afterwards General Thompson, of the 
American army, appointing him either a principal or deputy surveyor, 
for the purpose of making the said survey within this State, for as much 
land as would answer the claims of the said officers ; but the disputes 
commencing about that time between Great Britain and America, and 
the said Thompson, from principles of attachment to his country, re- 
fusing to take the oath of allegiance to the King of Great Britain, the 
said surveys were refused to be received by the surveyor of the county 
wherein they were made, and the said Thompson quitted this business, 
and shortly after joined General Washington at the head of a regiment, 
and that most of the said officers also entered into the service of the 
United States : 

" Resolved, That it is the opinion of this committee that the memorial 
and petition of the said officers, praying that their claims may be con- 
firmed, be rejected. 

" Extract from the Journal. 

"Teste. J. Pleasants, CZer^. 

"For copying the above, 100 cents." 

The following letters relate to the survey of lands claimed under the 
royal proclamation of 1763. The first of them is from John Randolph 
of Virginia. 

" Sir, — The President and Masters of our College have delivered to 
me the commission you desired. I have inclosed it to you, by Mr. 
Tilghraan of your Province. 

" Our Assembly has been this day* dissolved, on account of a resolu- 

* May 25lh, 1774.— TFtril's Life of Patrick Henry, p. 113. 



124 LIFE AND COBRESPONDENGE 

tion of theirs, in relation to Boston. They had directed a fast to be 
observed ou the first of June, in hopes by that means to avert the 
danger impending from the vengeance of the Parliament. Perhaps you 
did not think, when in Virginia, we had half so much devotion among 
us The Governor for their piety dissolved them. I hope you are 
safely returned to Philadelphia, and there enjoy your health after your 
fatiguing journey. 

" I am, sir, your most obedient, humble servant, 

"John Randolph.* 

" Our newspapers will inform you of the resolutions of the Governor 
with respect to granting land to the officers, etc. 

"To Captain William Thoaipson in Philadelphia." 

The next letter is that of Dr., afterwards General, Mercer, who was 
killed in the battle of Princeton, written from 

" Fredkricksburg (Virginia), 9th June, 1773. 

" Dear Sir, — Your favor of the 28th of May, together with the certi- 
ficate I requested, came to hand just now ; please to accept my hearty 
thanks for your ready assistance in expediting that affair. The officers 
this way have been very dilatory as to securing their lands. Last fall 
some steps were attempted to be taken, but, I fear, to little purpose. 
Bullit,f who is appointed surveyor on the Ohio, is in no great estima- 

* "John Randolph held the office of the King's Attorney-General for the 
Colony of Virginia. He was a gentleman of the most courtly elegance of person 
and manners, a polished wit, and a profound lawyer." — Wirt's Life of Patrick 
Henry, p. 34. 

f In 17-58 the expedition against Fort Du Quesne, which resulted in its cap- 
ture by General Forbes, was concerted. In the middle of September, Colonel 
Bouquet was detached with nearly 2000 men to open a new military road for the 
army advancing upon this celebrated post. When more than tiftj' miles from 
Fort Du Quesne, ho detached 200 men under Major Grant to reconnoitre. This 
officer conducted his enterprise with foolliardiness and ill judgment trulj'' aston- 
ishing. Arrived in the vicinity of the fort, he posted his men on a hill, sent out 
a part}' of observation, who burnt a house close to the fort, and at the dawn of 
the next day beat the reveille, and then sent an engineer to take a plan of it, in 
full view of the garrison. Not a gun was tired, and profi)und silence was main- 
tained, which the British ascribed to fear, and they were betrayed by their arro- 
gant folly into a fatal security. A sudden and unexpected attack was made by 
the garrison, rallying from the fort, on their front, while the Indians, ambushed, 
a.ssailed their flanks, and they were completely routed, with terrible slaughter. 

Captain Bullit, detached by Major Lewis, commander of the Virginia troops, 
to protect the baggage, rallied several of the fugitives, and made a stand. Hav- 
ing sent otl" the most valuable part of the baggage, he formed a barricade of 
wagons, and stationed his men behind it. He displayed both courage and 
judgment — he sult'ered the Indians to get close to his barricade before he ordered 
his men to fire, which they did so fatally as to clieck the savages — but only for a 
moment, for after a brief pause they again advanced — then Bullit and his men 
made signal of their wish to capitulate, and moved forward as if to surrender, 
and when within eight yards of the enemy gave them a most destructive volley, 
and then charged with the bayonet. The savages fled terrified, which gave 
Bullit opportunity to retreat to Colonel Jiouquet'S camp, which he did rapidly, 
collecting in his march the wounded and fugitives. 

The bravery of the Virginia troops, and Bullit's behavic*, were much ad- 
mired, and he w^s soon rewarded with the commission of Major.* 



* Irving's Life of Washington, vol. i. pp. 283, 284, 285, 286, and 287. 



OF GEORGE BEAD. 125 

tion with the superior officers, and from thence it happened that but few 
came in to his proposals, which were to join him early this spring' at 
the mouth of the Scioto, fi'ora which boundary of the N * Govern- 
ment he proposed to look out for and survey the officers' lands, down- 
wards, along the Ohio. Colonel Peachey and myself, with a few 
others, have agreed with one Heinrich Taylor, who traversed that 
country some years ago, to look out for and survey our claims, under 
the authority of Bullit, for which services we give one-fifth of the land, 
and ten pounds Virginia currency, besides paying Bullit's legal fees as 
surveyor. We were induced to this expensive method by the hazard 
and many other difficulties attending this attempt. Thus far I had gone, 
when Dr. Walker, who knows more of the country in question than 
any other of my acquaintance, informed me by letter that the claims of 
the Cherokee Indians on the Ohio have not yet been settled, and that 
to him it was matter of doubt whether the Governor and Council of 
Virginia would think themselves at liberty to grant lands. Hereupon 
I th<jught of West Florida, and wrote to Mr. James Wood, of Winches- 
ter, who was employed by Colonel Washington and others to locate 
their claims in West Florida, to take the proper steps for me also ; but 
he had left Winchester, and was on his way to Fort Pitt before my 
letter could reach him. As soon as I have any intelligence from Bul- 
lit, Taylor, or Mr. Wood, I will let you know. As there are a great 
number of officers in these middle colonies unprovided for in the lands 
they claim, I should think West Florida the most likely place to secure 
good lands, with the chance of their being soon settled, under due 
regulations of government. Should we succeed on the Ohio, our lands 
will be unconnected with any government, they lying without the 
Northern government, and being too remote from Virginia [for her] to 
receive any advantage from them, so that the people inhabiting them 
must soon be in a lawless condition, and of course [iroperty altogether 
insecure. The post hurries me so that I have only time to assure you 
that I remain, with unfeigned esteem and regard, your much-obliged 
and obedient servant, 

" Hugh Merger. 
" To Joseph Tilghman, Junior, Esquire." 

The writer of the letter next inserted was a colonel, I think, of one 
of the regiments of Pennsylvania that served in the war of 1755. 

"Camp on the Ohio, opposite the Mouth of [the] Scioto, 

" 10th July, 1773. 

" Dear Colonel, — I came out with Captain Thompson in order to see 
the lands surveyed for the Pennsylvania officers, and on our passage 
hither frequently went on shore with some of our best woodsmen to 
view the country, but could find none worth our notice, the bottoms 
being chiefly overflowed at times, and the lands back very hilly, [and] 
the whole very ill watered. We have been detained here several days, 
•waiting for some horses, which we sent by land, in which time we sent 
out Mr. James Smith and some of our best woodsmen to view the 
country. They have returned, and have been in the country we want 

* Sic in the original letter. 



126 LIFE AND GORBESPONDENGE 

to be at ; it is called the Blue Lick country, and is on the waters of a 
river called Kentucky, and they say it is the finest country they ever 
beheld, and [they] will, with their friends, come out and settle in it 
next spring, so that I make no doubt the land there in one year will be 
as valuable as the lands in Sewickley, which are now selling for twenty 
shillings per acre. We expected to have met with Captain Bullit here, 
througii whose hands I understand the surveys must pass before they 
are accepted; but he was gone. We sent a canoe with sotne hands 40 
or 50 miles down the river to find his camp ; but they returned unsuc- 
cessful, since which we have seen some Virginians who had been with 
him, who say he has gone down as far as the Falls, or Big Bone Lick, 
and won't return till next spring. Should this be the case, it would 
greatly delay a confirmation of these lands to us, and perhaps such a 
change in the government might take place as would entirely frustrate 
our expectations. As we have a valuable interest depending, I think 
it would be necessary for you, with any of the gentlemen concerned, 
to make application to the College of Virginia for a commission to 
Captain Thompson to survey and return these lands, which I think may 
be obtained, and which, for the reason before mentioned, I think very 
necessary. I know that several gentlemen in Virginia, who have ob- 
tained grants, have also had surveyors of their own nomination, par- 
ticularly Colonel Washington, who had Captain Crawford appointed, 
and had 175,000 acres surveyed, for which he has obtained patents. I 
beg you will write to Colonel Shippen and any other of your friends 
that can be of any service in this case. I am, with the greatest respect, 
Dear sir, your most obedient, humble servant, 

" Patrick Work. 

" Colonel James Burd, Lancaster County. 

"Received 8th August." 

The last letter of those in my possession in relation to the survey 
and location of lands under the proclamation of 17G3 is the following 
one of Hugh Mercer, from 

" Fredericksburg, 8th September, 1773. 

"Dear Sir, — Captain Woodford, of the late Virginia regiment, in- 
tending for Philadelphia, furnishes me with an opportunity of acknowl- 
edging your favor of the 31st of August, which came to hand yesterday. 
Please to accept my congratulations upon your safe arrival from Jamaica, 
and be assured that everything in my power shall be attempted to facili- 
tate the land affair in which Captain Thompson is engaged. Unless our 
Governor and Council can be prevailed upon to pas& over the usual forms 
in granting patents, I fear we must await the arrival of Captain Bullit, 
to give authority to the surveys. The College of William and Mary has, 
as you have heard, the sole authority of appointing surveyors, some of 
the fees [for surveys] passing into its funds. The person applying for 
such place is obliged to be examined by the professor of mathematics 
[of the college] and have some gentleman of fortune joined with him 
in a penal-bond for the faithful discharge of the office. As soon as I 
have sounded our great men on the subject, you shall hear from me. 
Captain Woodford will inform you of such steps as have been taken 
here in prosecution of the same i^ffair. We did not agree in any general 
method, partly through want of due information as to the country in 
view, partly through want of confidence in the surveyor. Since Bullit 



OF GEORGE READ. 127 

and those who were to survey under his authority set out from this place 
in March last, we have heard nothing of their proceedings. Your letter, 
and some others from Pennsylvania, furnish all the intelligence we have 
of them. It gives me very sensible concern to have done nothing in the 
recovery of your debt from Heaton. Mr. Jones can find no traces of the 
suit, or who were securities or bail, such has been for some years past 
the irregularity in the court business of Frederick County. 

" Give me leave now to recommend to your good offices the gentleman 
who delivers you this, both as a stranger in your city, an old campaign- 
acquaintance, and a very particular friend. 

" Dear sir, your afifectionate, humble servant, 

" Hugh Merger. 

"-Dr. John Morgan, Philadelphia." 

The fear expressed by Colonel Work, in his letter to Colonel Burd, 
that a change of government might frustrate the expectations of the 
officers claimants under the royal proclamation of 1763, yv^i?, prophetic. 
This change, to which the patriotism of these officers much contributed, 
lost them the lands to which they were equitably entitled, and they or 
their representatives have failed in every attempt to obtain indemnity 
for them. The claims of their descendants, not upon the generosity , 
but i\\e jvatice, of their country, may yet be heard. 

Colonel Thompson, on the eve of marching with his regiment of rifle- 
men for Boston, wrote as follows to Colonel Montgomery.* This letter 
indicates his zeal in the good cause in which he had engaged, and his 
sensitiveness when the honor of his county was affected : 

" Carlisle, 30th June, 1775. 

" Dear Sir, — I am very sorry to inform you that the companies asked 
of this county are not near complete, nor can I say when they will be 
filled, as it is in the heat of harvest, and I doubt arguments are rather 
used to keep the men here than to forward the service. But what sur- 
prises me most is that the resolves of Congress were not publicly made 
known till Thursday, though the express arrived here on Saturday, 
nor a single thing said or done in a meeting of upwards of seven hun- 
dred men under arms. Indeed, Colonel Magau has done everything in 
his power to forward the business, but great time was spent before he 
received an order. The York County company is quite complete; and 
has received my orders to march this day. Everything shall be done 
on my part, but you must feel for me when you know that I must march 
without my full complement of men from this county. As the honor of 
the county is greatly at stake, I hope in future that all public orders 
will be directed to gentlemen that will do their duty and not retard the 
service of the country by taking long time in contriving the private 
interest of a few particular friends. 

"I beg you may mention these things to Colonel Wilson. I am cer- 
tain he will do everything that is right, and I hope the county will 
never be found in the like situation when orders of such consequence 
are sent amonsfst us. 



* So written in the orifrinal letter. 



128 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 

"My best compliments to everybody, and am, my dear sir, yours, 
very sincerely, 

"William Thompson. 
" To Colonel Montgomery." 

He wrote, 10th September, 1175, a few weeks after he joined the 
American army before Boston, to his brother-in-law, George Read: 

"I am fixed in the most delightful spot in the world, as I can, from 
the door of my tent, see all our well-regulated arnn" from Roxbury to 
Winter Hill, and at the same time look down upon the enemies of our 
countr}^, confined within the narrow bounds of Boston and Bunker Hill, 
and further, you may be sure, they shall not pass, had they Lord North 
and all the troops in the British pay to assist them. Our troops are well 
supplied and in high spirits, and long much to come to action; but I am 
doubtful we shall have little to do in the fighting way this campaign. 
I am very happy in all my commanding officers. I always had a high 
esteem for the commander-in-chief, and higher now than ever. I am 
every day more pleased with General Lee : our country owes much to 
him ; and happy we are that a man of his great knowledge assists in 
the command of our army."* 

" On the 10th of November, 1175, the British, taking advantage of a 
high tide, landed from Boston at Lechmere's Point. Colonel Thompson, 
with his riflemen, and Colonel Woodbridge, with part of his regiment 
and part of Colonel Patterson's, was ordered to attack them ; who 
gallantly waded through the water, and soon obliged the enemy to em- 
bark under cover of a man-of-war, a floating-battery, and the fire of a 
battery on Charlestown Neck. We have two of our men dangerously 
wounded by grape-shot from the man-of-war, and we are informed by a 
flag, sent out this day, that the enemy lost two of their men.""}" Gen- 

* See the letter from which the above extract is made, in cliapter ii. of the Life 
of George Kead, p. 112. 

f "Braintree, l'2th November, 1775. 

" A number of cattle wore kept at Lechmere's Point, where two sentinels 
were placed. In a high tide it is an ishmd. The regulars had observed this, and 
a scheme was laid to take off the cattle whioli were kept there. Accordingly, 
last week a number of boats and about four hundred men were sent. They landed, 
it seems, unperceived by the sentinels, who were asleep; one of whom they 
killed, and took the other prisoner. As soon as they were perceived, the cannon 
on Prospect Hill were tired upon them, and sunk one of their boats ; but as soon 
as the tide was very high it was difficult getting over. A Colonel Thompson, of 
the riflemen, marched instantly with his men, — and, though a very stormy day, 
they regarded not the tide, nor waited for boats, but marched over neck-high in 
water, — and discharged their pieces, when the regulars ran without waiting to 
get otl" their stock, and made the best of their way to the opposite shore. The 
general sent his thanks in a public manner to the brave officer and his men." — 
Letters of Mrs. Adams, vnfe of John Adams, pp. 61, 62. 

Colonel Thompson's riflemen are thus described by Thacher (Military Journal of 
the American Revolution, pp. 37, 38): " Several companies of riflemen, amounting, 
it is said, to more tlian fourteen hundred men, liave arrived here from Pennsj'lvania 
and Maryland, a distance from 500 to 700 miles. They are remarkably stout 
and hardy men; many of them exceeding six feet in height. The}' are drc'ssed 
in white frocks or rifle-shirts, and round hats. These men are reniiirkable for 
the accuracy of their aim, striking a mark with great certainty at two hundred 
yards distance. At a review, a company of them, while on a quick advance, fired 
their balls into objects of seven inches diameter, at the distance of two hundred 



OF GEORGE READ. 129 

era! Washington adds: "The alacrity of the riflemen and their officers, 
on this occasion, did them honor, to which Colonel Patterson's regiment 
and some others were equally entitled, except in a few instances; but 
the tide at that time was so exceedingly high as to compel a large cir- 
cuit before our men could get to the causeway, hj which means the 
enemy, except a small covering party, distant from the dry land on this 
side near four hundred yards, had retreated or were about to embark. 
All the shot, therefore, that passed were at a great distance ; however, 
the men went to and over the causeway spiritedly enough."* 

In March, 1776, Congress contemplated ordering an oflScer to take 
command in Virginia, and General Washington, having heard that 
Colonel Thompson was spoken of for this command, thus wrote on the 
10th of this month to Joseph Reed: "I am of opinion that Colonel 
Armstrong, if he retains his health, spirits, and vigor, would be as fit 
person as any they could send to Virginia, as he is senior officer to any 
now there, and I should think could give no offence; but to place Colonel 
Thompson there in the first command, would throw everything into the 
utmost confusion, for it was by mere chance that he became a colonel 
upon this expedition, and by a greater chance that he became first colo- 
nel in this army. To take him, then, from another colony, and place him 
over the heads of several gentlemen under or with whom he has served 
in a subordinate character, would never answer any other purpose than 
that of introducing endless confusion. Such a thing surely cannot be 
in contemplation ; and, knowing the mischiefs it would produce, surely 
Colonel Thompson would .have more sense, and a greater regard for the 
cause in which he is engaged, than to accept of it, unless some uncom- 
mon abilities or exertions had given him a superior claim. He must 
know that nothing more than having been a captain of horse in 1759 
(I think it was) did very extraordinarily give him the start he now has 
when the rank was settled here. At the same time, he must know an- 
other fact, that several officers now in the Virginia service were much 
his superiors in point of rank, and will not, I am sure, serve under him. 
He stands first colonel here, and may, I presume, put in a very good 
and proper claim to the first brigade that falls vacant; but I hope more 
regiird.may be paid to the service than to send him to Virginia."f 

Colonel Thompson was not appointed to this command in Virginia, 
and it does not appear that he sought it. The objection that his supe- 
riors more than twenty years before in a different service might refuse 
to serve under him, was, I suppose, not without foundation. Questions 
of rank embarrassed General Washington throughout the Revolutionary 
war, and impeded the public service. The sensitiveness of officers in 
regard to rank, when just and reasonable, ought to be respected ; but 
whether it would have been just and reasonable for officers in service in 
Virginia to have refused to serve under Colonel Thompson, had the 
command there been conferred upon him, may be questioned. When 
it is added that he owed his colonelship of his rifle-regiment to chance, 

and fifty yards. They are now stationed on our lines, and their shot have frequently 
proved fatal to British officers and soldiers who expose themselves to view, even 
at more than double the distance of a common musket-shot." 

* Writings of Washington, vol. iii. pp. 156, 157; Diary of the American 
Eevolution, vol. i. p. 167. 

f Writings of Washington, vol. iii. pp. 309, 310. 



130 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 

and his rank of second colonel in the Americiin army to the start g'iven 
him by his captaincy of horse in 1759, I am sure this is the lan^^uajje 
of prejudice or if?norance. The nmder of this notice has evidence tliat 
he was a man of ability, energy, and couraj^e, and so zealous in the 
cause of his country as to sacrifice, to his sense of his duty to her, lands 
which would have been a princj^Iy estate to his children, to which he 
had nc(iuired an inchoate title by months of exposure;, hardship, and 
dan^'cr in a wilderness, ile was traiiKid to be a soldier in the same 
jjrol'ession which Washington had not disdained, and which did much 
to (pialify him for the command of our armi(!S, and was liif^h in llu; con- 
fidc'iicc! of his brother officers in th(! war which be^-'an bcstween Knjj'land 
and France in 1755. Well and widely known, as I hav(! d(!scribed him, 
in Pennsylvania and other colonies, it seems not unreasonable to ascribe 
his military prefermt^nt not to chance, but to his merits. 

" Besides the eiffht Ijrig'aditTS first appointed, Conj^ress had, 10th Jan- 
uary, 177(5, ai)pointed two others, Arnold and Frye, and on the 1st 
March of that year they elected six more, namely, John Armstrong'-, 
William Thompson, Andrew Lewis, James Moore, Lord Stirlinj^;', and 
Ivoliert, Howe; they at the same time ord(!red (Jeiieral Thomj)son to 
New York," and, as he took rank of tStirlinf^- in the order of appointment, 
tlie command there c()ns(!(|uently devolv(!(l upon him. lie arrived in 
!N(!W York (^n the 2()th of March, and assunuHl the command in that 
city, which he retaiiunl till ordered to join the exj)edition to Canada. 
He embarked for Albany with four regiments under his command on 
the 21st of April. 

Upon th(! illness of General Thomas, which ended in his death, the com- 
mand of the American army in Canada devolved upon General Thomp- 
son, lie ordered Colonel St. Clair to attack the British at Three Rivers ; 
but this officer, findinj; the enemy too strong for him, Italted for a rein- 
forcement. General Sullivan then arrived and assumed the command of 
the American army, and ordered (jleneral Thompson to reinforce St. (^Mair 
with thirtei'ii or fourti^en hundred men, take the command of the; whole 
force, and attack the enemy at "Three l{iv(M-s." The plan of attack 
was judicious, and it was made and supported bravely, "but, requiring 
the concurrence of too many circumstances, failed," and (i<Mieral Tho'mp- 
son was \wi only defeated, but taken prisoner. A full account of this 
attack and its result, so unfortunate for General Thoni])son, who was 
mad*; prisoner, is givcui in tin; third chapter of the Life of George Read, 
to which the; reader is riiferred.* 

(jciKiral Thonii»son was not exchanged until the year 1780. ■}" In the 
beginning of 1777 General Thompson was with his family, his zeal for 
the American cause undiminished by his recent mrsfortunc, impatient 
to bo restored by exchange to active service, and his sound judgment 

* Writings of WaMiinpton, vol. iii. pp. 818, 319, 365. 

f " 17H0, October 20. — It 1ms lont^ been the dwiro of Genpriil Wiishinpjton to 
iTinko, .«onH! iirniiiLjcnu'Tit witli (Jcncrnl ('lintou for an (^x<•lllmgo of prisoiKtrs, but 
iniiiiy (iiinculties liiivc iittcndcd to provent the uc'fompli.«liiiicrit of tlu! object. A 
})iiitiiil exelitiiijio biiH now l)een ofl(;eted. Miijor-Ooiieral Liiu'oln, who was taken 
lit (Iliarlesloii, has bei'n exchani^ed for Major-General Phillijis, cajtlured at Sara- 
tofja. (J(!neral 'I'hompson and a number of otlior oflicei's who fiavo lonj^ been pri.s- 
oncrs \\.r^\ also lil)e rated by oxchanye." — Thacher's Military Joumalo/ the American 
Revolution, p. 283. 



OF GEORGE READ. 131 

and lon^ experience exercised in suft-^estinpr remedies for defects in that 
important (h^partment of tiie army, the commissariat, and pn^veiition of 
evils li(! appridiended, as appears by tlx; following letter to James Wil- 
son, the eminent lawyer, statesman, and signer of the Declaration of 
Independence. 

"Cari.islk, 29th Jiinuary, 1777. 

"Dear WiiiSON, — A quartermaster and commissary is much wanted 
at Carlisle, and indeed in every town where the militia pass through. 
Wagons are taken up at will by the officers at a very great exp(!nse, 
many not half loaded, and much longer detained in the service than 
there is occasion for them. The troops k(;pt at taverns at two shillings 
and three pence per day, when rations may be found them for one shil- 
ling and two pence. I clearly S(!e there is a loss to the public of one 
hundred i)er cent, for want of those officers, besides the desertion of 
troops on their march. 

" But what alarms mo most is that the high price of whisky at this 
time inducers the distillers to purchase up all the wheat they can get, 
and I am certain every bushel of wheat in the country will be wanted 
before next fall. lnde(!d, I have my doubts that bread will be a very 
scarce article, and the army be in want, without care is taken imme- 
diately to buy up all the wheat that can be got in the country. Some 
time since I wrote to the commissary-general to api)oint John Davis, 
Jr., his dei)uty, with orders to })urchase all the provisions he (;ould get 
in the counties of York arid Cumberland ; and I also wrote to (JiMieral 
Mifflin to appoint a deputy to purchase forage, etc., and mentioned Mr. 
Stevenson, butjiavc received no answer. Grain is now fifty per ccmt. 
higher than when I wrote, and I am almost sure it will be one hundred 
per cent, higher before the 1st of April. I know the general officers in 
every d(;partment have been so much employed lately that it is impos- 
sible for them to think of anything but what is immediately wanted for 
the army. I think as those matters [I have mentioned] are so esscjntial 
towards carrying on the next campaign, a hint from Congress to have 
people ajypointed to do this duty will be al)Solutely necessary, and also 
to direct our council of safety to issue their order forbidding the distilling 
of wheat within this State; and perhaps the like order to the back 
counties of Virginia and Maryland may not be amiss. 

"I was told that i)art of General Armstrong's business up the coun- 
try was to establish magazines in different parts of the country, but 
have not learned that anything is yet done in that way. 

"The bearer waits. I shall write you more fully in a day or two 
(your Mrs. Wilson and family are well), and am. dear sir, yours, 

" William Tuompson. 

" Colonel Wilson."* 

The change of residence which it appears by the letter of General 



* " When military movements were first made, Mr. Wilson, then resident in 
Carli.sle, was chosen colonel of a regiment of militia raised in the county of 
Cumberland. Ue acted in that capacity when occasion demanded his services, 
and the public stores and magazines in Carlisle were committed to his charge; 
but he was never in active service, owing, probably, to his very frequent civil 
appointments." — Life of Wilson — Biograjjhy of the Signers of the Declaration of 
Independence, vol. iii. p. 262. 



132 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 

Thompson, next presented to the reader, he thought of, did not take 
place. 

"Carlisle, 26th September, 1778. 

" My dear Brother, — I have been informed that there is an excellent 
grass-farm to be sold in the neighborhood of Wilmington, and, as I in- 
tend leaving this part of the country, would wish to fix on some healthy- 
spot near you. I have advertised a few tracts of land for sale, and can, 
I believe, without touching on the best part of my lands, raise ten thou- 
sand pounds, which I would wish to lay out on some pleasant situation 
near the banks of the Delaware. A grass-farm I like the best. Write 
if such a place can be got, and I will take Mrs. Thompson down to see 
it. She now writes to Mrs. Read, and her letter is herewith inclosed. 
My best compliments wait on Mrs. Read, your dear Polly, the boys, 
and all my New Castle friends, and am, dear George, your very affec- 
tionate, humble servant, 

"William Thompson. 

"Hon. George Read, New Castle." 

He announces, in the letter which follows, his safe return, with Mrs. 
Thompson, to their home — from a visit, I suppose, to their friends in 
New Castle. 

"Carlisle, 6th September, 1779. 

" My dear Brother, — We got safe home yesterday, and found the 
family well, and house clean, and everything in good order, to the great 
satisfaction of Mrs. Thompson. 

" Poor Mrs. Biddle and Miss Abby we met, and brought back with 
us. She is in very great distress, indeed, but we shall do everything 
to relieve her, in our power, and hope a few days will in some measure 
restore her peace of mind. 

" The bearer, Mr. John Holmes, uncle of Parson Thomson, is going in 
quest of the Reverend Mr. Rankin, to be the pastor of our parish, and, as 
my salvation is a little interested in the appointment, I would be glad 
to know the character of the man, and how far you think him capable 
of the task. As to his preaching, I don't care so nmcli about it, pro- 
vided he is a gentleman, and a man of honor, and has lived in charity 
with the world. Tell Holmes what you know of the man, and, if you 
have time, write me a line. 

" Mrs. Thompson, and the family, and Mrs. Biddle, join in love to 
you, and Mrs. Read, and all our New Castle friends, with, dear George, 
your very affectionate 

" William Thompson. 

"George Read, Esquire, New Castle." 

It appears by this letter that General Thompson was of the Protestant 
Episcopal Church, and was interested and engaged in the business of 
his parish. He writes on the all-important relation of a pastor to his 
people with sprightliness, but not, it seems to me, with levity, Avhich 
would be unbecoming such a subject. How true to nature was it that 
the veteran soldier should desire the same qualifications in the parson 
of his parish that he once valued in the chaplain of his regiment ! But 
he did not think lightly of the pastoral charge^ for he calls it a task, — that 
is, in the connection in which he uses this word, a charge, grave, solemn, 



OF GEORGE READ. 133 

and responsible,— and deems an essential qualification for it to be the 
o-race which will survive hope, and even faith — charity. 
* In 1779 occurred the affair of " Fort Wilson," as it was called. There 
were then two parties in Pennsylvania, the Constitutionalists, who ap- 
proved and sustained the then existinj? constitution, and the Repub- 
licans, who reprobated it as wanting the checks necessary to guard 
a"-ainst abuses of power. James Wilson was of the Republican party, 
and a leader of it. The people were suffering from a depreciated cur- 
rency, injuriously affecting them in the e very-day transactions of life, 
and unprincipled demagogues persuaded them that the ills they suffered 
were caused bv merchants, who monopolized goods, and lawyers, who 
screened tories from punishment. Wilson Avas especially obnoxious. 
In September a committee, appointed by a town-meeting, regulated the 
price of rum, salt, and other articles. Robert Morris, Blair McClen- 
achan, and other merchants had quantities of these commodities in their 
stores', which they refused to sell at the prices fixed by the regulation. 
On the 4th of October (1779) they, with Mr. Wilson and others, were 
threatened in placards posted in different parts of Philadelphia, and 
resolved to defend themselves in his bouse, a large and old-fashioned 
edifice, at the corner of Third and Walnut Streets, to which they with- 
drew, having supplied it with arms, but having only a small quantity 
of ammunition. The house was quickly attacked by a fierce mob of 
two hundred armed men, having two cannons, and commanded by one 
Mills, a captain, of North Carolina, a tailor, a ship-joiner, and one Bon- 
ham, 'a man of no character, but what calling he disgraced is not men- 
tioned. They fired upon the house, and their fire was returned. With 
a sledge and cross-bar from a blacksmith's shop near, they had almost 
forced the front door of the house, when the first troop of city cavalry 
came to the rescue and compelled the mob to retreat. As the "troop" 
freely used their swords, many of the mob were severely wounded, and 
one man and a boy killed. Of the garrison of Fort Wilson, Captain 
Campbell was killed, and Messrs. Mifflin and Samuel C. Morris wounded. 
Among the party in Mr. Wilson's house were Messrs. Wilson, Burd, 
Robert Morris, George and Daniel Clymer, Allan McLane, Sharp Du- 
laney, George Campbell, Paul Beck, and Generals Mifflin, Nicholls, and 
Thompson. Being advised to leave Philadelphia for a short time, they 
withdrew to a house on the Schuylkill, but upon consultation returned 
at once to the city, walked about its streets as they found it necessary 
or agreeable to do, and attended the funeral of their unfortunate friend 
Campbell in a body.* 

The last of General Thompson's letters which I have found among 
Mr. Read's papers was written a few months before his decease. De- 
clining health, which warned him that the " inevitable hour" of death 
was n°ar, couid not subdue his constitutional buoyancy and cheerful- 
ness, which still discover themselves in this letter. 

"Philadelphia, 13th March, 1781. 

"Dear Brother,— This will be banded you by Mr. Patterson, a 
young gentleman who is on his way to Chester to study under Dr. 

* Life of James 'SV Wson.— Biography of the Signers of the Declaration of Inde- 
pendence, vol. iii. pp. 281-286. 



134 LIFE AND COBRESPONDENGE 

Samuel Smith. His father is a very particular friend of mine, and, 
should he make any stay in New Castle, I beg leave to recommend, 
him to your friendly notice. 

"I came to this place to endeavor to settle vs^ith the public for my 
pay since I was made a prisoner. How far I shall succeed I know not, 
but think it a duty I owe my family to try the matter with them, as 
they are indebted to me about £2500 — good money, not paper. 

" I have been laid up with the rheumatism for upwards of a year, 
and have for Jhis six weeks or two months past been very ill, with a 
pain in my breast and a bad cough. I with some difficulty got down 
[here], and continue unwell, though much better than I was a few days 
ago, and hope to be restored to a good state of health. 

" Indeed, I have at times some doubts that I am going to take a trip 
to another country ; but I believe these fears are such as generally attend 
a thin diet and a still thinner drink of small-beer and barley-water. I 
thought of paying you and the parson a visit, but believe I must defer 
it till May, when I intend to see you on my way to the sea-shore. If I 
can prevail upon Mrs. Thompson to leave her little family, I shall bring 
her down with me. I left everybody well at home, and George [Ross] 
and all friends well in Lancaster. Mark Bird is here, and says all our 
friends in Reading are in good health. 

"My best compliments wait on Mrs. Read, Miss Polly, and the boys, 
and am, my dear brother, 

"Yours very affectionately, 

" William Thompson. 

"George Read, Esquire." 

General Thompson died on his farm, near Carlisle, Pennsylvania, 
September 3d, 1781, and was buried in the cemetery of St. John's 
Church (Protestant Episcopal) in that town, — " his grave being within 
the inclosed burying-place therein of the family of Judge Hamilton, 
deceased, whose wile was related to him. It is covered by a marble 
slab, in good preservation, but somewhat discolored, in the lapse of 
more than seventy 3"ears, by the weather." 

It bears this inscription : 

"GENERAL WILLIAM THOMPSON, 

who departed this life 

September 3d, 1781, 

Aged 45 years.''''* 

In the "Diary of the American Revolution" (by Frank Moore), vol. 
ii. pp. 476, 477, may be found the following obituary notice of General 
Thompson : 

"September 4th, 1781. — Yesterday, at his seat, near Carlisle, Penn- 
sylvania, died General William Thompson. Those who knew his virtues 
will remember and mention his character with esteem. At the com- 
mencement of the present war he took an active and distinguished part 

* Extract from a letter of F. Watts, Esquire, of Carlisle, Pennsylvania, to An- 
drew C. Gray, Esquire, Now Castle, Delaware, May 10th, 1858. The author 
begs leave to thank these gentlemen for this information. 



OF GEORGE READ. 135 

in the cause of liberty. Eecotnmended to Congress by his spirit and 
military knowledge, by his great popularity, and his zeal for the interest 
of freedom, he was appointed by that honorable body to the command 
of the first regiment raised in Pennsylvania. When he joined the army 
before Boston, the rank of first colonel in the service was assigned to 
him. At the siege of that place, intrepidity, generosity, hospitality, 
and manly candor rendered his character the object of uniform admira- 
tion and esteem. 

" Fortune, which had hitherto smiled upon him, forsook him at a 
moment when she promised to lift him to the pinnacle of fame. In a 
gallant attack upon the British at ' Three Rivers,' in Canada, in 1715, 
he was made a prisoner. His captivity was long and inibittered ; his 
sensibility, generous and keen, was chiefly wounded by the reflection 
that he was precluded from signalizing himself in the defence of his 
country. 

"His death is considered a subject of universal concern and lamenta- 
tion. His funeral was the most respectable that has ever been known 
in Carlisle. In the great number that assembled on the melancholy 
occasion, scarcely was there one person to be found who did not drop a 
tear to the memory of the soldier, the patriot, and the friend." — Pennsyl- 
vania Packet, September 4th ; Games^s Mercui^y, September 10th, 1181 ; 
and see, also, Thachet^^s Military Journal, p. 326. 

For Letters of General Thompson, see Force's " American Archives," 
vol. vi. (4th series), 1776, pp. 448, 593, 627, 628, 684. 



DR. KEARSLEY'S DREAM. 

" Cablisle, January 26, 1777. 

"Dear Sir, — Last Monday night, the 20th January, 1777, be it re- 
membered, I went to bed at ten o'clock, and as it is common with me to 
order [the] servant to cover up the unconsumed part of the fire with 
ashes, after I had seen it done. A little before daybreak I was awakened 
by an extraordinary dream, viz., that I was then in company with our 
old friend John Ross, lawyer. As it then made a great impression on 
my mind, it is easy for you to conceive the emotions I felt on the occa- 
sion, nor will you be surprised when I tell you I jumped directly out of 
bed, and by the gleaming light of my fire, which had forced its way in 
a small flame through the ashes, I imagined I saw his figure, on which, 
without any fear, I looked with great earnestness. At this instant the 
fire burst forth into a blaze, insomuch that I could see him very dis- 
tinctly, with a paper in bis hand, standing, in a speaking attitude, when 
he began, and thus addressed me : 

'" My dear Sir, — You and I, in the state of body you are now in, 
ever lived in the greatest harmony and the best friendship. I have been 



136 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 

removed from you by the wise and kind providence of God to a place 
of peace and everlasting felicity, while you are yet to remain some time 
in a world of trouble and great confusion, where you will hear of wars 
and rumors of wars, accompanied with pestilence, already begun, and 
famine, which will ensue, and continue till your sins abate. These, 
my friend, are the scourges of sin, the [vengeance] of God poured forth 
on the American [people] fur their ingratitude, that superlative of sin 
which the Almighty — His laws just, perfect, and immutable — always 
punishes.' Continued he, 'Lest you should doubt the authority of what 
I now sa}^, I pray you to take this paper,' which he held forth in his 
hand, ' and, to convince you that I have really made an appearance to 
you, behold my signature — the initials of my name and profession in 
your world. These are placed first to every line, and I leave them with 
you, as my steivard, to be shown to my friends, but particularly to 
General Thompson, whom 1 love, and wish to hint something not unlike 
to what with you is termed prophecy.'' On thus speakirfg these words, 
he disappeared, leaving the matter behind him. In discharge of my 
duty to the above commission, [and] conceiving it also my duty to you 
to discharge so important a trust, I send you a copy, and whenever you 
will do me the favor of a visit you may see the original. I am, my dear 
sir, with my compliments to 3'ou and Mrs. Thompson and family, your 
very humble servant, 

"John Kearsley. 
"A TRUE COPY. 

" ' Inspired to leave with j'ou, my trusty friend, 
Old counsels, which I dare not wish to mend. 
Honor to you — disgrace to C-ngress' laws, 
Nor can their terrors make you join their cause, 
Nor yet their prisons make you love their laws : 
Eight well we lived when justice ruled the land, — 
O know you're at the would-be-kings' command,* 
Sent forth to fightf as tyrants rule their slaves, — 
Still will Britain rule Loth land and waves. 
Lawyer I was, and Magna Charta knew, — 
Averse to riot, — studied to be true. 
When just laws ceased, Heaven kindly gave her call. 
You have felt, — I now foretell, — so will all. 
Ever-gracious Lord ! avert the dreadful stroke! 
Repent, ye ingrates, — nor your God provoke !' 

"'Agreeable to our many conversations about eternity that the first of 
us who died, if permitted, should visit the other, — by the will of the 
Omnipotent who governs the universe, I am sent to comfort you under 
your great and severe persecutions. Not only to comfort 3'ou, but to 
redeem the land which is now overwhelmed with troul)le, a sure conse- 
quence of sin, a continuance in which will be misery, destruction, and 
death. Believe, O ye sinners, believe and repent ! The sins of in- 
gratitude, willful and corrui)t perjury, persecution and cruelty, with the 
sin of falsehood, [con]tinually propagated to inflame and [mislea]d the 
ignorant, has so provoked the vengeance of Heaven that the Almighty 

* All the American noblesse want to be kings ; they are, properly, would-be- 
kings. 

f By force. 



OF GEORGE READ. 137 

is come forth against you with a flaming sword to burn you up, and cut 
you off; and I am risen from the dead to give you this last most solemn 
warning. Moses and the prophets have admonished former generations, 
and some have believed and been saved. But if ye will not believe me 
when risen from the dead, horrid judgments will attend you.' 

" At the era of the Revolution Dr. John Kearsley, although other- 
wise a citizen of good character and standing, became exposed to the 
scoffs and insults of the people by his ardent loyalism : being naturally 
impetuous in his temper, he gave much umbrage to the Whigs of the 
day by his rash expressions. It was intended, therefore, to sober his 
feelings by the argument of tar and feathers. He was seized at his own 
door, in Front Street, a little below High Street, by a party of the 
militia, and in his attempt to resist them received a bayonet-wound in 
bis hand. Mr. Graydon, a by-stander, has told the sequel. He was 
forced into a cart, and, amidst a multitude of boys and idlers, paraded 
through the streets to the tune of the Rogue's March. The concourse 
brought him before the Coffee-House, where they halted ; the Doctor, 
foaming with indignation and rage, without a hat, his wig dishevelled, 
and himself bloody with his wounded hand, stood up in the cart, and 
called for a bowl of punch, — when, so vehement was his thirst, he swal- 
lowed it all before he took it from his lips. ' I was shocked,' says Gra}^- 
don, ' at the spectacle, thus to see a lately respectable citizen so vilified.' 
It is grateful to add, however, that they proceeded to no further violence, 
— thus proving that a Philadelphia mob has some sense of restraint. But 
though the Doctor was allowed to escape the threatened tar and 
feathers, the actual indignity so inflamed and maddened feis spirit that 
his friends had to confine him for a time as insane. He died during the 
war, a resident of Carlisle."* 

October 6th, 1775. — "The infamous Dr. Kearsley, of Philadelphia, 
not content with his late triumphal procession for his enmity to his 
country, has made a further attempt to injure it, but to-day was, happily, 
discovered. Some letters of his were intercepted in a vessel bound from 
here to London, which were filled with the most villainous invectives 
and scandalous misrepresentations of the first characters in this country 
and the public proceedings. This so enraged the people in general that 
if it had not been for the humanity of some gentlemen, who conducted 
him to jail, he would have been very roughly handled. He was sulky 
as when exalted on the cart, glories in the mischief he yet hopes to do 
to his country, and refuses to give any satisfaction. This ungrateful 
son of Galen has acquired a considerable fortune by his practice in 
Philadelphia, and in manufacturing Keyser's pills, which are sold as 
genuine by a certain Tory bibliopolist."f 

"Constitutional Gazette," October 14th and 21st. — "We hear that 
Dr. John Kearsley is sentenced to be imprisoned, for a limited time, 
in the back counties of Pennsylvania, for high crimes against his 
country."! 

It is evident from the "letter" and "paper" that Dr. Kearsley was 
still insane when he wrote them. His exile to Carlisle, then a frontier 



* Watson's Annals of Philadelphia, p. 615. 

f Diary of the American Revolution, vol. i. p. 148. 

X Ibid.", p. 148. 

10 



138 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 

town of Pennsylvania, though seemingly a punishment, was, like his 
commitment to jail, an act of humanity, for his insanity would have 
been aggravated by his continued abode in Philadelphia. 

John Ross was half-brother of Mrs. Thompson. General Thompson, 
I have no doubt, was well acquainted with Kearsley, an intimate friend, 
as he states, of John Ross. General Thompson, though he differed 
from Kearsley in his political opinions, — being a decided Whig, — yet, 
generous, warm-hearted, and hospitable, and commiserating his unhappy 
condition, I am sure, with his family, was kind to him. If, as is proba- 
ble, the insanity of the Doctor was only partial, and if, as I infer from 
his profession and social position, he was a well-informed gentleman, he 
may have been a pleasant, guest. 

The treatment of Dr. Kearsley by the Philadelphia mob was cruel, 
but provoked by bis imprudent violence and treasonable act, which 
palliated it. The foi'egoiug particular narrative will give the reader 
a more lively idea of the too frequent cruel treatment of the Tories, 
during the war for independence, than do the general histories of that 
period. It has been truly said : " The charm of biography is that it 
presents minor events beneath the dignity of the historian to narrate." 
Could he stoop to them, he would give liveliness and interest to his 
pages, cheaply purchased by a little sacrifice of the dignified march of 
his story, and save from oblivion facts very illustrative of the events 
and actors he describes. 

The " letter," and " paper" accompanying it, of Doctor Kearsley, were 
found by me in 1839, mislaid, and recovered in July, 1867, among the 
papers of George Read. The manuscript, I infer from its condition — 
much worn, tattered somewhat at its sides, and separated where creases 
were made by its folds — was much sought for, handled, and read. The 
words worn away from the manuscript (not many) were easily supplied 
by aid of the context, and are within brackets.* 



IB. 

NOTICE OF ETHAN ALLEN. 

Ethan Allen was a man of vigorous but haughty and undisciplined 
mind. His treatise entitled " Reason the only Oracle of Man, or a 
Compendious System of Natural Religion," was the first formal publi- 
cation in the United States against Christianity, and was printed in 
Bennington, Vermont, in 1784. It is characterized as "a crude and 
worthless performance" in " American Biography," by the writer of his 
" Life," in that work, vol. vi. p. 349, who treats the infidel phases of his 
character with a leniency inexcusable, but which does not surprise 
me in a disciple of Soclnus. Passages he cites from Allen's work, show- 
ing his belief in the immortality of the soul and a future state of 

* Thus, [ ]. 



OF GEORGE READ. 139 

retribution, to disprove his liavin^- held the doctrine of the " metemp- 
sychosis," fail to do so, if this belief may consist with this doctrine. 

Allen was taken prisoner, September 10th, 1775, in an injudicious 
and unsuccessful attack,* without orders, and with a handful of men, 
on Montreal. He wished, it has been conjectured, to filch from Mont- 
gomery the credit of taking Montreal, by an exploit like that of hi.s 
surprise of Ticonderoga. He was sent to England, and treated with 
great barbarity. 

He is a hero of the vulgar, and I conjecture some of the marvellous 
stories told of his uncouth manners and dress, feats of strength, and 
indomitable courage are to be received with some abatement. 

Besides being an avowed infidel, he held very wild and ridiculous 
opinions, among them the Pythagorean notion of the transmigration of 
souls, saying " he would live again in a white horse." 

He was imperfectly educated, and the author of several pamphlets, 
among them the " Narrative of his Captivity ;" was remarkable for his 
courage and fortitude, and was brave, open, liberal, true to his friends, 
and loyal to his country. 

Happily for his family, his wife was a Christian of great piety. She 
had carefully trained their daughter in the faith she professed. This 
daughter, w4ien about to die, said to Allen, " Father, shall I believe in 
the principles you have taught me, or in those my mother taught me?" 
He was greatly agitated — paused a little while — and answered, " Be- 
lieve what your mother taught you." 



o. 

NOTICE OF MAJOR MACPHERSON. 

The cheerful and hopeful tone of his letter, in a situation so dis- 
heartening as that of the little band of brave men with whom he was 
blockading Quebec, with no protection from the rigor of a Canadian 
Avinter but the imperfect one of their tents, without artillery that could 
make impression on that strong fortress, and with the prospect of a 
protracted blockade or the imminent perils of an assault, and his 
chivalric weariness of the " smooths," as he calls them, of head-quarters, 
and his generous desire to share with officers less fortunate iu position 
the "roughs" of military life, awakened my admiration, and made me 
desirous to obtain what information I could of the gallant Macpherson. 
I thought it probable that the oration pronounced by Provost Smith, 
of the College of Philadelphia, February 19th, 1775, at the desire of 
Congress ("Journals," vol. i. p. 38), in honor of Montgomery and the 
officers who fell with him, might afford it at least to some extent, and 
that it was probably in the Philadelphia Librnry. A friend found this 
oration in a volume of pamphlets. No. 9115, there, and procured it very 

* Diary of the American Revolution, vol. i. pp. 152, 158, 159. 



140 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 

kindly for me. From this and other sources* I gathered the following 
facts. 

The father of Major John Macplierson"}" was a Scotchman, who set- 
tled in Philadelphia, and raised a large family there, having previously 
followed the sea. A brother of the major was also an officer in the 
army of the Revolution, and subsequently a general of Pennsylvania 
militia, and son-in-law of Bishop White. John was educated in the 
colleges of Philadelphia and Nassau Hall. He studied law with John 
Dickinson, and practiced it in New Castle, Delaware. His name appears 
in an ancient docket in the Prothonotary's office for New Castle County 
so often as to show that his practice was respectable, and upon Mr. 
Read's resignation of the office of Attorney- General he Avas an appli- 
cant, though unsuccessftdly, for it. " He was eminent," I quote from 
the oration, "in his profession when some have scarce begun to think 
of business ; but, the love of liberty being his ruling passion, he thought 
it his duty to off'er himself to the service of his country, and had soon 
an opportunity of attaining the military pre-eminence of which he was 
so laudably ambitious. Enjoying an hereditary bravery, joined to a 
well-cultivated understanding and an active spirit, he soon became the 
bosom friend of Montgomery, and his aid-de-camp, and was intrusted 
with a share in the management of his most important negotiations, 
and stood by his side in the attack on Quebec. A few days before his 
death he visited the very spot where Greneral Wolfe expired, and his 
reflections in his letter on this occasion, as well as in that he left, sealed 
up, for his father, in case of his death in the attack upon Quebec, were 
such as became a Christian and a soldier. He bequeathed his little 
fortune to his only brother, an officer in the regular army." General 
Montgomery and his aids were killed by the discharge of a gun fired by 
the last of the soldiers who fled from the battery they attacked. But 
for this chance-shot this battery would have been carried ; and even 
after Montgoiuery's death, had Colonel Campbell, who succeeded him 
in command, been an officer of more enterprise, he might have taken it, 
and supporting Colonel Arnold, who, with his detachment, had pene- 
trated the lower town, the result have been, not their surrender, but 
the capture of Quebec. " Forgetting their foes in the heroes, their 
adversaries," I quote again from the oration, " gathered up their breath- 
less remains, and committed them to kindred earth, ' with pious hands' 
and ' honors meet.' So may your own remains, and particularly thine, 

* One of them a letter from a gentleman connected with the family of the late 
General Macpherson of Philadelphia 

f "September 18th, 1775, Mundaj\ — This day John McPherson, Esquire, 
came to my lodgings, and requested to speak with me [John Adams] in private. 
He is owner of a very handsome country-seat, about five miles out of Philadel- 
phia, and father of Mr. McPherson, aid to General Schuyler. He has been 
captain of a privateer in the last war, [and] made a fortune in that way. He is 
well skilled in naval affairs. Proposed a plan to burn all the British men-of-war 
in America. Sanguine of success. 

"September 25th, 1775, Monday. — Rode out of town and dined with Mr. 
McPherson. He has the most elegant seat in Pennsylvania, on the banks of the 
Schuylkill, a clever Scotch wife, and two pretty daughters. [He] has been nine 
times wounded in battle. An old sea-commander, [he] made a fortune by pri- 
vateering. [Had] an arm twice shot off, and shot through the leg, etc." — 
Wriiings of John Adams, Diary, vol. ii. pp. 424, 425, 428. 



OF GEORGE READ. 141 

Carleton I be honored, should it ever be 3-our fate to fall in hostile 
fields."* 

In obedience to a resolution of the Legislature of New York, in the 
year 1818 the remains of Montgomery were disinterred at Quebec, and 
received bv his nephew, Colonel L. Livingston. Montgomery's grave, 
within the' walls of Quebec, was readily pointed out by an old soldier 
who witnessed his interment. His coffin was found entire, of rough 
structure, having on its lid a silver plate, but no inscription appearing 
upon it, and the skeleton within was perfect, except the lower jaw, 
which was shot away. The statement of Provost Smith that Mont- 
gomery and all his officers who fell with him were buried " with honors 
meet" is not sustained. General Carleton recognized Montgomery's 
body, and gave it deceyit interment, — he had been his intimate friend,— 
but Macpherson and Clieeseman, his aids, were thrown into a hole, in 
their clothes. Clieeseman, just before the assault, dressed himself cave- 
fullv, and put into his pocket a large sum in gold, thus hoping, if he 
fell," to secure the decent sepulture of his remains.f General Mont- 
gomery's remains were conveyed to Whitehall, New York, and from 
thence to Albany, the people in all the towns on the route to that city 
receiving them with minute-guns, solenm music, tolling of bells, and 
processions, civil and military. From Albany they were conveyed, by 
the Hudson, to the city of New York, with signal demonstrations of 
respect from'the people of the towns on that river, and interred July 9th, 
near the monument erected to his memory by Congress, in front of St. y 
Paul's Church, with solemn and imposing military and civil ceremonials. 
The narrative of this expression of gratitude for the services of Mont- 
gomery is one of those passages of history on which all love to dwell. 
in the words of,,the Governor and commander-in-chief of the State of 



* Some persons may have thought Montgomery's determination to attempt 
the carrying of Quebec hy storm & rash one, but all have praised his plan of 
attack, which was inade between four and five A.M., December 31st, 1775, in 
darkness and the bitter cold of a driving storm of sleet and snow. Two feints 
or false a.ssaults were made on the upper town, at St. John's and the upper gate, 
and two real attacks on the lower, under Cape Diamond, at opposite sides of it, 
Drummond's wharf and the Pot K&h.—MnrshalVs Life of Washington, vol. i. p. 
329, etc.; Bissett's Hist, of Reign of George III, vol. i. p. 867, chap, xv.; Diary 
of the Amer. Revolution, vol. i pp. 185-187. 

Congress, January 9th, 1776, directed General Schuyler to appoint Mr. John 
Macpherson a major in one of the battalions ordered to be raised out of the troops 
in Canada, intelligence of his death not having then been received —Journals of 
Congress, 1774, '75, '76, vol. i. p. 19. 

t "Mr. James Thompson, of Quebec, who was one of the engineers at the 
storming of Quebec, and assisted in burying General Montgomery, also assisted 
in disinterring his body, making an alfidavitas to its identity. ' It was,' he swore, 
'taken to the house of Mr. Gobert, put in a coffin lined with flannel and covered 
with black cloth. Kev. Mr. MontmolUn, garrison-chaplain, performed the funeral- 
service. Macpherson and Cheeseman, Aids, ivere buried in their clothes, without 
coffins.' , 

"Cheeseman had a presentiment of his death, saying, with a smile, when he 
put the gold into his pocket, as mentioned above, ' This will insure a decent 
burial.' He was not instantly killed, but pressed forward [after he was wounded] 
to the attack of the battery ; but it was a feeble effort, and he fell back in a wind- 
ing-sheet of snow."— Lossing's Pictorial Field-Book of the Revolution, vol. i. p. 



201, note. 



142 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 

New York, " in rendering due honor to illustrious heroes and patriots 
we not only reward distinguished merit, but incite to new achievements 
of patriotism and glory." — Niles's Register, vol. xiv. pp. 371-375, No. 
22, July 25th, 1S18. 



ID. 
PROYOST SMITH. 



"Provost Smith," wrote John Adams, September, 1774 ("Writ- 
ings of John Adams," Diary, vol. ii. p. 358), "soft, refined, polite, insin- 
uating, adulating, sensible, learned, industrious, indefatigable, he had 
art enough, and refinement upon art, to make impression on Mr. Dickin- 
son (Quaker) and Reed (Joseph, Presbyterian). Smith is looking up 
to government for an American Episcopate and a pair of lawn sleeves." 

"In this province, — Pennsylvania," — Mr. Adams wrote to Colonel 
Palmer, June, 1775, "indeed, in Piiiladelphia, there are three persons, 
a Mr. W , who is very rich and very timid ; the Provost of the col- 
lege, Dr. Smith, who is supposed to be distracted between a strong 
passion for lawn sleeves and a stronger passion for popularity, which 
is very necessary to support the reputation of his Episcopal college; 
and one Israel Pemberton, who is at the head of the Quaker interest: 
these three make an interest here which is lukewarm, but they are all 
obliged to lie low for the present."* 

Between the people of the Eastern and Middle States there were 
strong prejudice and distrust in relation to their supposed opinions on 
religion and government. While the New Englanders believed the 
gentry of the Middle and, to some extent, of the Southern States in- 
clined to aristocratic or monarchical polity, and those of this class who 
were members of the Church of England, and of course maintained the 
divine institution or expediency, at least, of Episcopacy, to be in truth 
the partisans of a hierarchy, the natural ally of despotism, the gentry 
thus misunderstood looked with repugnance upon the Eastern people, 
and especially those of Massachusetts, as levelers in politics and 
Puritans in religion, who aimed at nothing short of independence. So 
sensible were the Massachusetts delegates to the Continental Congress 
of this fact that they surrendered the lead (at least in 1775) they could 
have fairly claimed to Virginia, and suffered her to initiate the 6rst 
measures of that body, fearful that their introduction by the Massachu- 
setts representatives might, because of this opinion, delay or defeat 
them.f 

The imputations against Dr. Smith of artfulness, adulation, and am- 
bition to attain a mitre may reasonably be regarded as calumnies of the 



* WritiiiG;!? of John Adams, vol. i. pp 173, 174. 
t Ibid., vol. i. pp. 150-152. 



OF GEORGE READ. 143 

enemies of the Church of England and the Provost, which Mr. Adams, 
sharing their prejudices, received without sifting or examining them. 

In the important work of the alterations in the "Book of Common 
Prayer, and Administration of the Sacraments, and other Rites and 
Ceremonies of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States," 
made necessaiw by the revolution which severed them politically from 
Great Britain, Dr. Smith bore a conspicuous part, and especially in the 
revision and publication of the " Book of Common Prayer" in conjunc- 
tion with Bishop White.* 

* Journals of the General Convention of the Protestant Episcopal Church in 
the United States, vol. i. pp. 495-578. 



144 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 



CHAPTER III. 

Mr. Read, January, 1776, with his family — Letter of John Evans, and notice of 
him — Mr. Read contemphites removal of his family to Newark — State and United 
States offices not thought incompatihle — People impatient at the inaction of the 
American army before Boston, and its cause — Boston evacuated; its condition; 
treatment of American prisoners there — Tories who retired thence with the Brit- 
ish — Instructions to Mr. Read and his colleagues in Congress — Colonel Arnold 
before Quebec ; his condition ; disposition of the Canadian^ towards the Ameri- 
cans; character of the habilans — American army reinforced — General Wooster 
takes command — Ineffectual fire opened upon Quebec — American army de- 
spondent and insubordinate — Part thereof entitled to discharge refuse to serve 
longer — Arnold, dissatisfied, retires to Montreal: he commands there — General 
Thom])son ordered to Canada — Richard Howell's letter to Mr. Read — Operations 
and prospects of the American army — General Thompson's letter to Mr. Read 
— British fleet arrive below Quebec — General Thomas takes command of 
American troops — Retreats — Command of American army devolves on General 
Thompson — He attacks the British at " Three Rivers," and is defeated and made 
prisoner — His plan of attack judicious ; why it failed — Letter of Jonathan Potts 
giving particulars of General Thompson's capture — Colonel Irving ca|)tured 
also — Mr. Read's family resident in Wilmington — His letters to Mrs. Read — 
Attack of American row-galleys upon the Liverpool and Roebuck British 
frigates otf mouth of Christiana Creek ; Mr. Read's letter to Messrs. McKean 
and Rodney giving account of it; notice of Captain Houston ; anecdotes — Mr. 
Read in Congress; his letter to Mrs. Read ; items of news — Question of inde- 
pendence before Congress; Mr. Read's course upon it; view of the subject; 
John Dickinson in connection with it — General Howe awaits reinforcements at 
Halifax — British plan of campaign — Americans determine to hold New York 
and Long Island — Battle of Brooklyn — Generals Sullivan and Putnam — Retreat 
of American army from Long Island — Letters of Colonel Bedford and Caesar 
Rodney to Mr. Read — Notice of the Delaware regiment — History of the " three 
lower counties" or " territory," now the State of Delaware — Convention elected 
1776 to frame constitution for Delaware, as recommended by Congress — Mr. 
Read a member, and its president; account of its proceedings, and the consti- 
tution adopted ; this convention contrasted with other conventions ; other pro- 
ceedings ; erroneous statement as to Mr. McKean's framing this constitution ; 
rough draft thereof in Mr. Read's handwriting ; its defects — Letters of Caesar 
Rodney to Mr. Read, and to Messrs. Read and McKean, giving account of 
public aflairs — The "flying camp;" how composed; commanded by General 
Mercer; Delaware battalion ])art of it; commanded by Colonel Patterson ; his 
letters to Mr. Read — Colonel Bedford's letters to Mr. Read — Letter of Cajsar 
Rodney to Mr. Read — Military operations after the evacuation of New York — 
Battle of "White Plains ; Colonel Bedford wounded — Report that Continental 
troops were ordered to Lewistown, Delaware ; letters of Messrs. Read and 
Robert Morris in consequence — Caesar Rodney's letter to Mr. Read; Captain 
Gibson — Letter of Messrs. "VVilson, Clynier, and Chase to Mr. Read, urging 
march of volunteers to defend Philadelphia — Colonel Patterson's letter to Mr. 
Read at the end of his service with the " flying camp" — Readiness of Delaware 
militia to aid in defence of Philadelphia — Letter of General McKinley to 
Mr. Read — Notice of John McKinley — Letters of Thomas Duft'and John Evans 
to Mr. Read — Success of General Washington at Trenton ; happy results — 
Appendix A, the second instructions to the Delaware delegates in Congress — 
Appendix B, synopsis of arguments for and against the resolution that the 
United States should declare their independence — Appendix C, account of the 
"signature" of th3 Declaration of Independence — Appendix D, biographical 



OF GEORGE READ. 145 

sketch of Ctesar A. Rodney— Appendix E, instructions to Delaware Legislature, 
A.D. 1776, for, and remonstrance against, a change of the constitution thereof 
— A-ppendix F, state of parties in Congress a.d. 1776. 

Mr. Read was, in the begimiing of 1776, for a brief 
period, with his family. 

Mr. Evans, the writer of the following letter, was a 
member of the committee of freeholders of New Castle 
County, appointed to take measures for holding a convention 
to choose delegates to the Continental Congress of 1774, 
and to receive contributions for the sufferers under the 
Boston port-bill (see mite, chapter ii.), and from the first 
paragraph of his letter, I think, a member— as was Mr. 
Read— of the committee of safety. From his position, I 
conclude he was an active and influential Whig. 

Mr. Read, it seems from the second paragraph of this 
letter, was contemplating the removal of his family to 
Newark, a village ten miles west of New Castle, which was 
entirely exposed to the landing of parties from British 
men-of-war, the advent of which into the bay and river 
Delaware was much dreaded by its inhabitants. 

"Dear Sir, — I received yours of yesterday, and, on con- 
sidering the contents, would gladly oblige Colonel Bedford, 
and join in the opinion with him that Mr. Holland would 
be of great service in training the battalion, and could 
Kirkwood or Anderson be prevailed on to give place to 
him, I should approve of it highly; and as Anderson is 
second lieutenant, I should be of opinion he would have 
no objections to [the] alteration you propose, as being eldest 
ensign in the battalion will be quite equal to his present 
appointment. 

" Since my return home Mr. Black gave me notice that 
he would not hold the house his store is kept in longer than 
the 25th of March. That being the case, I have the prom- 
ise of it from Mr. James Anderson, though I would be 
glad if your time and business would permit you to come 
and see it before I should agree for it. There are four 
rooms on the first floor. Being a one-story house, the rooms 
on the second floor are only fit for servants. [There] is a 
good cellar under the whole, a kitchen adjoining the west 
end of the house, and six acres of pasture. If you or Mrs. 
Read, the weather permitting, could come, to Newark on 



146 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 

Monday or Tuesday next, I would make it my business to 
stay at home and await your coining; but if it should not, 
you can let me know, [and] I will make the best terms I 
can for the house. 

" From your friend and humble servant, 

"John Evans. 
"January 17th, 1776. 

"George Read, Esquire, New Castle, per Lieutenant 
Popham." 

There is, I think, scarcely an American citizen who does 
not believe that the holding at the same time and by the 
same person of State and United States offices is incongruous 
and wrong, and this independently of constitutional prohibi- 
tions of such holding, though, no doubt, these prohibitions 
have done much to produce this opinion. But at the period 
of the American Revolution the strict notions of the present 
day on this subject were not held. Mr. Read and Mr. Mc- 
Kean, delegates to the Continental Congress, were at the 
same time members of the Assembly of Delaware. The 
nomination of the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of 
the United States as minister to the Court of St. James 
would now excite universal astonishment and reprobation; 
and yet Washington noininated John Jay, chief justice of 
that court, and the United States Senate, though not with- 
out opposition, confirmed him, as Envoy Extraordinary to 
his Britannic Majesty.* Mr. Read and Mr. McKean were, 
hy the following letter, summoned, and urgently, to attend 
the Legislature of Delaware if the business of Congress 
would permit. By the exercise of sound judgment, they, 
and others in the same situation, were, I have no doubt, 
successful in filling offices that seem to us incompatible. If 
they left one body for another, they did so when the state 
of business permitted it without injury to their constituents, 
and, if all could not leave, one might do so. 

A "New Castle, March 6th, me.f 

"Gentlemen,: — I am ordered by the House to require 

* Marshall's Life of Washington, vol. v. p. 545. 

f In 1*781 Thomas McKean, Delegate in the Continental Congress 
from Delaware, was Chief Justice of Pennsylvania. — HildreUi's History 
of the United States, vol. iii. pp. 401, 402. 



OF GEORGE READ. 147 

your immediate attendance, unless business of the first im- 
portance should make your stay in Congress necessary: 
if so, you are immediately to let the House know it. 

" I am, gentlemen, your very humble servant, 

"C^SAR Rodney, Speaker. 

'^George Read and Thomas McKean, Esquires." 

Through the winter of 1776 all eyes were anxiously fixed 
upon Boston. Day after day and month after month passed 
away without the anticipated attack upon the beleaguered 
city. People became impatient, and, as the impatient too 
often are, unjust. The inaction of Washington was even 
charged to the mean and selfish desire to continue the war 
that he might prolong his importance as commander-in- 
chief of the American army. What was the true state of 
the case? Let the heroic general answer this question. 
"It is not," wrote Washington, January, 1776, " in the 
pages of history to furnish a case like ours. To maintain a 
post, within musket-shot of the enemy, for six months to- 
gether, ivithoui ammunition, and at the same time to disband 
one army and recruit another within that distance of 
twenty British reiiiments, is more than probably ever was 
attempted." And yet, while daring and doing all this, to 
be, as he was, assailed with murmurs, slanders, and com- 
plaints, must have sorely tried his patience, and it was a 
still greater trial of it, to be forced to submit to them in 
silence, when by a word he could have exposed their utter 
groundlessness. But he could not make known to his impa- 
tient countrymen his want of ammunition and soldiers, 
without at the same time publishing it to the British. 

The fortification of Dorchester Heights by the Americans 
forced upon their foe the unwelcome conclusion that unless 
they were dislodged Boston was untenable. A tempest de- 
feated the contemplated attack upon the works on these 
heights when unfinished, and when completed the strength 
of the position forbade an attempt to carry it. On the 17th 
of March, as the veil of morning mist was lifted from the 
harbor of Boston, there were to the American lookouts un- 
mistakable signs of an important movement. The men- 
of-war and transports were hove short to their anchors, 
their sails were let fall, and, soon after, boats were lowered 
and manned, and, impelled by the steady man-of-war's- 



148 LIFE AND CORBESPONDENCE 

man's stroke, neared the quays, and received company after 
company of British soldiers, the sun glancing on their scar- 
let uniforms and burnished muskets. The evacuation of 
the city, commenced on the 11th, was on the 17th to be 
consummated. 

The capture of Boston by assault would have been a more 
splendid success ; but it could not have been obtained with- 
out great loss of men and destruction of property, while to 
have compelled the enemy, after all their vaunts, to aban- 
don a strong position, was a great triumph, especially as 
achieved by raw troops over veteran soldiers. 

By a tacit understanding, the retiring fleet was not fired 
upon, and Boston was left undestroyed. It had suffered 
much from the enemy's occupation. How could it have 
been otherwise ? Houses had been pulled down for fuel, 
when it failed, and, no doubt, fences and trees shared their 
fate, grass-plots and shrubbery and flowers had perished 
under the tread of rude soldiers, and the churches and other 
public buildings, or some of them, were occupied as barracks 
or riding-houses. If the Americans detained in Boston as 
prisoners were not cruelly treated, they endured, it may be 
fairly presumed, more than the garrison from want of food 
and firing, and found more intolerable than hunger and 
cold the contumely of their insolent enemies. The hu- 
manity extended to them was extorted by fear of retaliation, 
and could not therefore have been of high character or 
degree. General Gage seized and imprisoned, as rebels, all 
in Boston who espoused the American cause, and, when 
Washington remonstrated, replied, " that his clemency was 
great in sparing the lives of those destined by the laws of 
the land to the cordr There was another class of men .to 
be not less, if not more, pitied — the Tories, who had found 
refuge in Boston, and left it with the evacuating army, 
abandoning, many of them, large estates, with the faint 
struggle of hope of better days against the fear that they 
were leaving their country forever. Unhappy men ! they 
had taken sides honestly, I believe, most of them, in an 
unhappy civil quarrel, but it was with oppressors against 
their countrymen. 

To the delegates of the " Three Lower Counties on Dela- 
ware" the following instructions were at this time given: 

"In the House of Representatives for the Counties of 



OF GEORGE READ. 149 

New Castle, Kent, and Sussex, upon Delaware. At New 
Castle, Friday, March 22d, p.m.: 

" Instructions to the Deputies appointed by this Govern- 
ment to meet in General Congress : 

" 1st. That you embrace every favorable opportunity to 
effect a reconciliation with Great Britain, on such principles 
as may secure to your constituents a full and lasting en- 
joyment of all their just rights and privileges; and, as the 
most probable means of obtaining such desirable ends, you 
are to cultivate with the greatest care the union which so 
happily prevails throughout the United Colonies, and con- 
sequently to avoid and discourage any separate treaty. 

" 2d. Notwithstanding our earnest desire of peace with 
Great Britain, upon the terms aforesaid, you are neverthe- 
less to join with the other colonies in all such military 
operations as may be judged proper and necessary for the 
common defence, until such a peace can be happily ob- 
tained. 

" 3d. On every necessary occasion you are decently, but 
firmly, to urge the right of this government to an equal 
voice in Congress with any other Province on this conti- 
nent, as the inhabitants thereof have their all at stake as 
w^ell as others. 

"Extract from the minutes. 

"James Booth, 

" Clerk of the Assembly.'* 

After the repulse and death of General Montgomery, 
Colonel Arnold, who succeeded him in the command of the 
American army, reduced to about six hundred men, re- 
treated up the St. Lawrence three miles. He encamped. 
Congealed snow formed his ramparts. Wounded, with a 
handful of raw troops, insubordinate under any circum- 
stances, and disheartened by defeat, hundreds of miles of 
wilderness stretching between the frontiers of Canada and 
their homes, with the cold of Siberia, the thermometer sink- 
ing to forty degrees below zero, Arnold commenced the 
blockade of Quebec. It is situated on the northern bank 
of the St. Lawrence, at the termination of the promontory 
formed by the confluence of the river St. Charles with the 
St. Lawrence. The Heights of Abraham, a wall of rocks 
rising nearly perpendicularly from the bank of the St. Law- 



150 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 

rence, are an almost impregnable defence to the upper town, 
built on the Plains of Abraham, which extend in width from 
one to two miles from east to west. The lower town occu- 
pies the narrow space at the base of the Heights of Abraham. 
Cape Diamond, across which, declining to the St. Charles, 
the upper town is built, rises gradually to the height of more 
than three hundred and forty feet above the St. Lawrence. 
Arnold's indomitable spirit sustained him under discourage- 
ments to which most commnnders would have succumbed. 
Stretched upon his rude couch, with no shelter but his tent, 
with, perhaps, supplemental walls of snow, and without the 
comforts and attendance necessary for the speedy healing of 
his wound, he sustained the blockade through a very severe 
winter, but must have combated doubts and fears of his 
ability to maintain his position, of the most harassing char- 
acter. The cold had become intense and still, and deep 
snow, the winding-sheet of nature in the deathlike embrace 
of winter, covered the province. In the clear winter atmos- 
phere Arnold could see the walls of Quebec, impregnable 
to his guns of small caliber, perhaps the half-frozen senti- 
nels pacing the ramparts, the flag of England drooping 
along its staff, and the tin-covered steeples, seeming, in the 
glancing sunlight, to be plated with silver. Would Carle- 
ton attack him, or, content with his success, and fearing to 
sally with a disaffected garrison, w^•ut the reinforcements 
of which, in the spring, he was certain? Would the Ameri- 
cans be reinforced before the expected British troops could 
reach Quebec, and would their leader win the high renown 
of taking it by assault? On receiving intelligence of Mont- 
gomery's defeat, might not his countrymen abandon the 
attempt to conquer Canada, requiring, as it did, ten thou- 
sand men, whom they could neither spare nor equip, and 
hard money they could not command? Could he expect 
further support from the Canadians? It was unlikely that 
they would further imperil their lives and their property by 
adhesion to a defeated army with no flattering prospects of 
success. The priests and the seigneurs sustained the Eng- 
lish authority, pleased with the Quebec bill, which gave to 
the Canadian ecclesiastics an establishment, and to the 
noblesse all legislative power except that of taxation. The 
peasantry — the cultivators or hahlfans — it is true, were at 
first favorably disposed to the Americans, but that inclina- 



OF GEORGE READ. 151 

tion was not increased by fjimiliarity with each other. The 
sprightly Canadian, with the mercurial temperament, the 
graceful manners, and the love for conversation, music, 
the chanson, and the dance of his French ancestors, saw 
little to admire in the American soldiers, uncouth in dress 
and rough in manners. They seemed to him only a few 
shades less repulsive, cold, and morose than their Eng- 
lish cousins, while the noble qualities of both they perhaps 
neither perceived nor could appreciate. The American, 
on the contrary, equally unable to estimate qualities so 
amiable and delightful as those of the Canadian " habitan," 
contemned him as an effeminate,* fiddling Frenchman, 
wasting in games and talk and song and dance and music 
the long winters of his country, which he, the manly 
American, would have passed in hunting, or prospecting 
the wilderness around him. The indisposition of the Cana- 
dians to the invaders was increased when Arnold, by 
proclamation, announced that they were to be paid for 
supplies to his army in the paper money of the Continental 
Congress. He might as well have offered cowries or wam- 
pum. In March reinforcements to the American army 
began to arrive, and continued to arrive till it was increased 
to seventeen hundred men; but many of them were suffering 
under that loathsome disease the small-pox, and they oc- 
cupied a space of twenty-six miles on the island of Orleans 
and both banks of the St. Lawrence : besides, they were ill 
disciplined, and did not respect the property of the Cana- 
dians, which further alienated them. On the 2d of April 
General Wooster arrived, and took command, and the next 
day a fire from the American batteries was opened on 
Quebec, but without effect, and Arnold departed for Mon- 
treal, to command there, mortified and displeased at being 
overlooked, as he supposed he was. A considerable part of 
the American army, entitled to discharge, could not be per- 
suaded to remain. 

In April General Thompson announced to Mr. Read that 

* Efifeminate they were not : hardy, patient, and laborious, they fur- 
nished the encrages, coureurs de bois, or voyageurs, by whose agency 
the fur-trade was carried on. They were unrivaled in slcill as boatmen, 
and made long journeys, enduring almost incredible privations and toil, 
for very small wages. The descendants from the mixed marriages of 
the voyageurs and Indian women are an athletic and handsome race. 



152 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 

he Wtas ordered to Canada. This order was unexpected, 
and perhaps unwelcome ; yet he obeyed it with alacrity 
honorable to him as a soldier and a patriot. 

"New York, April 15th, 1776. 

"My dear Brother, — This minute I have received orders 
to march to Canada. I confess I did not expect to have 
been ordered from here so soon, but I shall always be most 
happy where I can most serve my country. 

" I have wrote to Mrs. Thompson to send my boys to 
Newark, where I know you will see that care is taken of 
them.* 

" As the office of Paymaster-General is [to] be soon 
vacant by the resignation of Colonel Warren, let me recom- 
mend, in his room, Mr. Palfrey, a gentleman of Boston, 
who, from a campaign's acquaintance, I know to be a man 
of strict honor, and well acquainted with business. General 
Hancock and Colonel Harrison know him well, and to them 
I refer you for his character. 

"I have been so very kindly treated by the people of 
this place that I should gladly have stayed to have rendered 
them every service in my power. You shall hear from me 
when I arrive at Albany. 

"My love to Mrs. Read and all friends — and am, my 
dear brother, yours very sincerely, 

" William Thompson. 

" To George Read, Esq., Continental Congress, per post, 
Philadelphia." 

On the 1st of May arrived General Thomas, who had 
been appointed to command the American army in Canada, 
its effective force not more than one thousand men, so 
scattered that more than three hundred men could not 
be assembled at any point that might be attacked. The 
following account of the American army, its operations 
and prospects, just before its retreat from Quebec, will, I 
think, be read with interest. The writer of this letter was 
related to Mr. Read on his mother's side, and was subse- 
quently, I believe, Governor of New Jersey. 

* Post. 



OF GEORGE READ. 153 

" Dear Sir, — I have had information of aifairs at home 
by no person since I left Burlington. I expected, indeed, 
letters through your hands, but find I am entirely neglected 
or forgotten. Be that as my friends please or I deserve; but, 
unless I have given you offence, I beg a line from you, in- 
forming me of my brother's destination, [and] the welfare 
of our family and yours. 

" Yesterday we reached the post assigned us before 
Quebec, and I am unhappy to assert that the strength of 
our army here is vastly inferior to our expectations, and I 
doubt not to yours. The first evening we were called to 
duty by an alarm to observe the effect of a fire-ship bearing 
down on the shipping at the lower town, and to co-operate 
with it, if the wind might bear the flame on the town; but 
beyond all expectation there did not appear above eight 
hundred men, exclusive of the guards, nor do I think more 
can appear without calling the several parties on command in 
from the detached posts, and including the guards. The New 
England troops are arrived, and even at this critical period 
inoculated themselves, and became unfit for duty. Their 
regiments are merely nominal, some not more than two 
good companies. We ardently wish for ammunition and 
reinforcements, that we may try our fortune before the 
town is supported by additional troops. If we do not suc- 
ceed before they receive a reinforcement, or we are strongly 
supported from the southward, we shall undoubtedly ^be 
forced to evacuate the ground. We are situated in a wide- 
extended country, of uncertain and inconstant friends, and 
a strong town, garrisoned by brave [and] inveterate ene- 
mies. The}^ know our situation and measures, and even 
ridicule our attempts. Yesterday we opened a two-gun 
battery against them, and after our fire they discharged, 
deridingly, a musket in return. We have very light metal 
and little ammunition; they have heavy metal and abun- 
dance of powder and ball. They fire very frequently, so 
that we can procure their shot in great plenty. Should the 
reinforcement they expect come soon, whilst the New Eng- 
land troops are so few and unfit for duty, surely, with 
superior numbers, and a secure retreat to a strong town, 
they would sacrifice this handful of us, without sufficient 
ammunition and uncovered by a single line. They are 
prepared for us, and surprise we cannot take them by ; I 

11 



J 



154 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 

doubt not but that they hav^e beams prepared to roll upon 
us and our ladders, should we try it, and their walls are 
illuminated to secure them from night attack. Difficult 
indeed is our situation; but we encourage the men, and I 
am happy to believe that my little company is resolutely 
firm to my most dnngerous purposes. Last night I found 
them read}^, obedient, and willing, though the first night in 
camp. Our news here is trifling ; it is suspected that the 
savages with the troops at the Forts Detroit, Niagara, 
Mushinamaccanac, are coming down, and troops have been 
dispatched, I know not with what propriety. Our fire- 
ship, I mentioned, was repelled, as I am told, by a boom 
across the river, and blew up to no purpose, while our adju- 
tant, who directed it, was in the cabin, whether from the fire 
of the enemy, or the too sudden effect of the combustibles, 
is uncertain. Poor Anderson,""" however, threw himself out 
of a port-hole, wretchedly burned, and by good fortune 
swam to the boat. But I am in haste, though very prolix 
in my letter, and conclude, with best wishes for you, your 
lady and family, and am, dear sir, your humble servant, 

" Richard Howell. 

"May 4th, 1776. 

" George Read, Esquire, Member of Congress, Philadel- 
phia. To be left at the Coflfee-House." 

Jntelligence was received May 6th that the British fleet 
was below, and on the next day five of their vessels entered 
the harbor of Quebec. General Thomas retreated, aban- 
doning many of his sick and all his stores, to Du Chambeau, 
and then to the mouth of the Sorel, where he was attacked 
by the small-pox, and the command of the American army 
devolved upon General Thompson, and soon after General 

* Epbraiin Anderson, notwithstauding tLe failure of his attempt to 
burn the British fleet iu the St. Lawrence, and his narrow escape from 
death, had the tenacity of purpose a characteristic of projectors, hap- 
pily for the world, but too often unhappily for themselves. I find that 
in the earh' part of the summer of 117(3 he was in New York, adjutant 
of the 2d New Jersey battalion, i)roposing to Congress the destruction 
of the British men-of-war in the waters of New York by (ire-ships, that 
Congress authorized the attempt, and he was employed to construct 
them, but that the number necessary could not be prepared iu season, 
and the scheme was abandoned. — American Archives, 5th Series, Sec- 
tion 1, p. 155. 



OF GEORGE BEAD. 155 

Thomas died. Actuated by the laudable desire to strike 
the enemy where he seemed to be vulnerable, and thus 
give a happy turn to affairs in Canada, which were so un- 
prosperous to the Americans and unpromising of improve- 
ment, General Thompson, having been informed that eight 
hundred British troops, commanded by Colonel McClean, 
were stationed at the "Three Rivers," ordered Colonel 
St. Clair to attack them, if he could do so to advantage. 
St. Clair, thinking his force of six or seven hundred men 
insufficient, paused for reinforcement and further orders. 
General Sullivan arrived, and, as senior officer, took the 
command of the American army. He ordered General 
Thompson, at the head of between thirteen and fourteen 
hundred men, to join St. Clair, and, taking command of the 
whole force, to attack the enemy, if there should be good 
prospect of success. General Thompson, embarking his y 
troops in boats, coasted the St. Lawrence on the south side 
of its expansion, called the "Lake of St. Peter," and joined 
St. Clair at Nicollet. Believing that he could accomplish 
his purpose, though his information as to the strength of 
the British, commanded by General Frazer, was contradic- 
tory, he dropped down the St. Lawrence, under cover of 
night, with the design to surprise them. The ".Three 
Rivers," a village of some length, was so called because 
located where the St. Maurice disembogues into the St. 
Lawrence by "three mouths," about midway between Mon- 
treal and Quebec. The town was to be assailed, a short 
time before daybreak, by the American troops, simultane- 
ously at each of its extremes, and two smaller bodies were 
to support them. The Americans passed the armed British 
boats below them, June 8th, undiscovered, and were san-^ 
guine of success, but unfortunately arrived at the " Three 
Rivers" an hour later than was proposed, so that they were 
seen and the post alarmed as they disembarked. The. Brit- 
ish vessels opened their fire upon the Americans; to shelter,, 
them they were ordered to march through what appeared 
a wooded point, but was really a morass, and extending 
three miles. They were so long making their way through 
this morass that General Frazer had time to land field-pieces 
and make complete preparations to receive their attack, 
while General Nesbit cut off their retreat to their boats. 
The American general, under all these disadvantages. 



156 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 

showed no lack of courage, but ordered his troops to charge. 
They obeyed, but were repelled, and retreated through a 
swamp, the British pursuing for a while. The loss in killed 
did not exceed thirty, but two hundred prisoners were taken, 
and among them General Thompson and Colonel Irvin. 
The plan of attack was judicious, and courageously made, 
and only failed because it required too many circumstances 
to concur to make it successful.* The following letter gives 
an account of the capture of General Thompson and Colonel 
Irvin : 

"Fort George, July 5th, UTG. 

" My dear Old Friend, — Would to God it were in ni}^ 
power to give j^ou some agreeable intelligence from this 
place! but at present it is out of my power. You will be 
much pleased with Colonel Allen's account of General 
Thompson's engagement, in which, as he ever will, he 
acted the part of a hero and a great general. His capture 
was owing to the treachery of a rascally Canadian, a captain 
in our troops, who invited him, on his retreat, to take some 
refreshment at his house, which the general, wnth Colonel 
Irvin, accepted, and, while they were supping a little milk, 
the traitor gave the enemy notice, who immediately came 
up and took them. 

"Should Howe get a drubbing at New York, it will effect- 
ually check the progress of Burgoyne, who is not provided 
with boats to cross the lakes. You will have heard that 
Burgoyne's army is composed of the foreigners we have 
been threatened with. I am stationed here, and very much 
hurried in building a hospital for the reception of three 
thousand men, who will be down in a few days. 

"I should be happy to hear from you. Make my most 
respectful compliments to Mrs. Biddle, your good daughter, 
Mrs. Jemmy Biddle, and the rest of your good family. 
'• I am, my dear sir, 

" Your affectionate and most humble servant, 

"Jonathan Potts. 

"Major Scull, Nicky, and the rest of our Beading friends 
are well. 

"Colonel Edward Biddle, Philadelphia. 

"Favored by Colonel Allen." 

* Marshall's Life of Washington, vol. ii. pp. 3C2-366. 



OF GEOBGE READ. 157 

It appears from the following letter that Mr. Read's family 
in May, 1776, were resident in Wilmington : 

"My dear G , I have this morning wrote to Katy 

Thompson,* proposing to her to send her oldest son, George, 
to Philadelphia, to the college, where Ned Biddle will pro- 
vide him with board and lodging, and that she should send 
her second son to Wilmington, where you will do the like 
for him. I presume that you will approve of this last [propo- 
sition]. 

" The Province ship left the town yesterday, being hurried ^ 
off in consequence of intelligence that the Roebuck, man- 
of-war, was ashore near the cape. A ship, fitted out by 
Congress, and called the Reprit^al, is ordered down also, 
with several of the gondolas, but a report prevailed last 
evening that the Roebuck had got off. Little else has been 
talked of since Sunday noon that the news came. I flatter 
myself that I shall see you on Saturday next. Last Satur- 
day the Congress sat, and I could not be absent. I saw Mr. 
Bedford last evening; he has had a little gout in both feet, 
attended with a fever; of this last he most complained, but , 
it is gone off. This day is their election for additional mem- 
bers of Assembly. Great strife is expected. Their fixed 
candidates are not known. One side talk of Thomas Wil- 
ling, Andrew Allen, Alexander Wilcox, and Samuel Howell, 
against independency; the other, Daniel Roberdeau, George 
Clymer, Mark Kuhl, and a fourth I don't recollect; but it is 
thought other persons would be put up. My love to our 
little ones, and compliments to all acquaintances, and I am 
" Yours, most affectionately, 

" George Read. 

"Mrs. George Read, Wilmington, 1st May, 1776." 

In the month of May, 1776, Mr. Read was one among 
the multitude of his fellow-citizens who witnessed the at- 
tack made by the row-galleys upon the Roebuck and Liver- 
pool frigates off the mouth of Christiana Creek. The letter 
next inserted, written by Mr. Read to Mr. McKean and 
Mr. Rodney, contains some particulars of that affair. 

* Wife of General Thompson. 



158 LIKE AND CORRESPONDENCE 

"Wilmington, Friday, May 10th, 1176. 

"Gentlemen, — The inclosed letter* came to hand this 
evening by the person employed to take the two hundred 
pounds of lead to Lewistown, sent by Brigadier McKinley, 
upon the requisition of Colonel Moore, which you have 
seen. 

"The committee of safety have thought it highly impor- 
tant that you should be acquainted with the condition of 
the magazine at Lewistown, to exert your influence for an 
immediate supply of powder and lead, which, I suppose, must 
be by land, as the Roebuck and Li^rpool will probably 
continue as high up the river as Keedy Island. This 
morning they were in the bight below New Castle, and, 
-^ though the row-galleys haye proceeded down from Christiana 
Creek's mouth about two hours ago, I am apprehensive that 
the high w^ind now blowing will not permit their acting to 
advantage in that cove. 

"We have had warm cannonading between the ships and 
galleys these two days past, — all within our view. Great 
intrepidity was shown on the part of our people, who com- 
pelled the two ships to retire, not much to their credit; but 
it appears to me the ships were afraid the galleys would get 
below them. Young Captain Houston led the van. As to 
the other particulars, I must refer you to the very many 
spectators from your city, who will have returned before 
this time. 

"I suppose it will be thought that too much powder and 
shot have been expended by the galleys in these attacks; 
but I am well satisfied they have produced a very happy 
effect upon the multitudes of spectators on each side of the 
river; and in that part of the colonies where this relation 
shall be known, British ships of war will not be thought so 
formidable. A few long-boats drove, and apparently injured, 
those sized ships best calculated to distress us. 

"The committee of safety are going this morning to New 
Castle and downward, to see what may be necessary to 
advise for the protection of the shore below. Truly the 
people at large have shown great alacrity and willingness 
on this occasion. I know not when I shall be with you, as 
I may be of some little use here. I shall stay till there is 

* This letter was wanting. 



OF GEORGE READ. 159 

some alteration in the appearance of things. Excuse this 
scrawl. Compliments to all friends. 

"I remain your very humble servant, 

"George Read.* 

"P.S. — Apothecary's paper — written in the smell of vials. 
"To the Honorable Cesar Rodney and Thomas Mc- 
Kean." 

Young Houston, who so gallantly led the van in the 
battle of the row-galleys, was a native of Philadelphia. He 
w^as described to me by a venerable Revolutionary naval 
officer, Captain Henry Geddes, as a handsome man, born in 
the city of Philadelphia, fond of dress, of polished and 
agreeable manners, and much admired in female society. 

I was also informed by Captain Geddes that he was cap- 
tured, three days after the battle of the row-galleys, by the 
Liverpool^ Captain Billew, who was a native of Scotland. 
This officer related to our informant that, in the hottest of 
the fight, a row-boat came from the shore, manned with 
four boys, who placed themselves directly under the stern 
of his ship, and fired incessantly into her. His officer of 
marines, calling his attention to these juvenile assailants, 
exclaimed: "Captain, do you see those d — d young rebels? 
Shall I fire upon them?" "No, no," cried the brave old 
Billew; "don't hurt the boys; let them break the cabin- 
windows !" 

"In the heat of the engagement," added Captain Geddes, 
"the attention of the thousand spectators who lined the 
Delaware shore was diverted from the sublime spectacle of 
a naval combat by a militia major riding at full speed 
among them, who threw himself from his horse, which he 
turned loose among the crowd, and entreated to be put on 
board one of the galleys. With much difficulty he per- 
suaded two men to put off* in a boat with him. He steered 
for the galley nearest the enemy, and as soon as he set his 
feet on board he stationed himself at a gun. The cartridges 

* This letter was communicated to me by the late Ctesar A. Rodney 
(who very kindly permitted me to take a copy of it) in 1821, and was 
inserted in the sketch of Mr. Read's life which I then wrote for the 
"Biography of the Signers of the Declaration of Independence," edited 
by M. Wain, and then in the course of publication. For a biographical 
sketch of C. A. Rodney, see pod, Appendix D. 



160 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 

failed, cartridge-paper was called for to make more cartridges, 
but it was all expended: the gallant major instantly pulled 
off his boots, filled them with powder, and rammed them 
into the gun. When he returned home, he bragged 'that 
he had not only been in the battle, but that lie had fired 
his boots at the enemy.' " 

Mr. Read was, very soon after the attacks of the row- 
galleys on the Koebuck and Liverpool, as appears by the 
following letter, in Philadelphia, in attendance on Con- 
gress : — 

"My dear G , I have your letter of the 12th instant. 

I did expect to have been with you last evening, but was 
detained by a special call of the marine committee. This 
morning there is a call of Congress, owing to a letter, by 
express, from General Washington, who writes that two 
men-of-war and two tenders passed New York up the North 
River on Friday, notwithstanding a heavy fire from several 
batteries, [and] that a large ship, with a flag at her fore- 
topmast head, had come to the fleet at the Narrows, and 
was saluted. Supposed to be Lord Howe's — the admiral's 
— ship. 

" We have no accounts from the avvay at the lakes. Most 
of the companies of militia of this city have f)roceeded to 
Trenton, where they rendezvous. Your brother George 
came to town last evening, and says his battalion are on 
their way here. Two companies of them will be in town 
this morning. 

" One of the smallest frigates building here, called the 
' Delaware,' was launched yesterday, and one of the largest 
was expected to have gone off the stocks at the same time, 
but could not be moved, owing to the misplacing of the 
ways, or some such cause, to the great disappointment of 
the builder, John Warton, and a numerous set of spectators. 

" I was out at Mr. Gurney's all Friday, on a message 
from Mrs. Gurney the preceding night, delivered to me in 
bed about eleven o'clock. I inclose the letter for the sin- 
gularity; and, behold! the cause was none other than a 
notice they had that some associators were going about to 
collect arms from the non-associators. Before I got there 
they were gone, and the fright was over, but I was kept 
the whole day. Mrs. Ross was in tolerable spirits, but 
complaining as usual. Mrs. Murray is still with them. 



OF GEORGE READ. 161 

" As to my own health, it is not so good as I could wish. 
This day week I confined myself to the house, and took 
some bark, that has relieved me, and am now better, and T 
should have dined with Gurney to day, but the rain induced 
me to accept of a seat in Mr. Braxton's coach, and I have 
been at Mr. Robert Morris' country-house, with a set of 
people who think and act alike — some consolation in these 
times. 

"As our Assembl}^ are to meet to-morrow week, I shall 
have a proper excuse to return to you the last of this. Be 
assured I wish it most sincerely. Preserve your spirits, 
and an equanimity of mind, for your health's sake. Ban- 
ish your fears — all may be right — a few weeks may dis- 
cover much, I hope, in our favor. God preserve j^ou and 
our little ones, and believe me yours most affectionately, 

" George Read. 

"Philadelphia, 14th May, 1776. 

" P.S. — I expect Mr. Rogers, of Maryland, to carry this. 
If you see him, treat him as my old acquaintance. I am 
told the second frigate was launched to-day. James and 
Tom Read send their love to you." 

In the month of May, 1776, it was evident that Congress 
would soon have before them the question whether the 
thirteen American Colonies should or not, by a formal act, 
throw off their dependence upon Great Britain. Congress 
took a decisive* step towards independence by recommend- 
ing, on the 6th of that month, to the colonies the establish- 
ment of permanent governments, instead of the temporary 
ones under which justice had been administered, order pre- 
served, and the contest with the common enemy main- 
tained. 

Richard Henry Lee moved on the 7th of June, seconded 
by John Adams, the resolution "that the United Colonies 
are, and of right ought to be, free and independent states, 
and that the political connection between them and Great 
Britain is, and ought to be, totally dissolved." This resolu- 
tion w^as debated on the 8th and 10th days of June by 
Congress in committee of the whole, and, it appearing " that 
New York, Pennsylvania, Delaware, and Maryland were 

* See Appendix F. 



162 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 

r 

not yet matured for falling from the parent stem, but were 
rapidly maturing to that state, it was thought prudent to 
wait awhile for them, and to postpone the final decision 
till July the first."* 

• The condemnatory judgment of some of my countrymen 
upon those who voted against the resolve of independence 
cannot, I think, bear the test of impartial consideration. 
These persons have viewed that measure from a stand-point 
different from that of the American senators who de- 
liberated and voted upon it, and without the feeling of 
mighty responsibility pressing upon them. Time has made 
what was then doubtful certain. Was there no ground for 
doubt whether the great measure was not premature? Let 
it be remembered that the question was only as to time. 
Would not the declaration be worse than in vain if the 
people were not ready to welcome it. Were they ready ? 
Had not delegations of colonies appeared in Congress without 
instructions to vote for independence — nay, some with in- 
structions to oppose it ? In the brief period which had 
elapsed since the election of those delegates, had so great a 
change taken place in the public mind on this question as 
was alleged ? Would not a premature declaration be dis- 
astrous ? Could foreign aid be truly counted on ? Would 
monarchical governments become the patrons of democracy, 
and embark their noble officers and plebeian soldiers to 
fight its battles, and bring home its principles, the seed, to 
be sown broadcast, of revolution there ? Had they no 
colonists who would but too readily follow the example of 
successful revolt from the iron rule of a parent state? Had 
the obscure English staymaker, by a pamphlet of a few 
pages, in the brief period of three or four months, wrought 
all the marvels claimed for it, equalling those of the most 
remarkable uninspired writings upon the opinions of men ? 
Was it true that thousands who, on New Year's day, 1776, 
still spoke of England as " home," and the king as " their 
gracious monarch," misled, only for a time, by evil counsel- 
lors, had awakened from their fatuity? When Paine pro- 
claimed the monstrous folly of paying the enormous price 
of conflagrated towns, of countrymen slaughtered in battle 
or destroyed in the foul holds of prison-ships, of other 



Writings of Thomas Jefferson, vol. i. p. IT. 



OF GEORGE BEAD. 163 

thousands reduced to widowhood and orphanage, and all 
the caUimities of civil war, for a mere accommodation, 
which would leave them still a dependent people, he told 
the truth; but were the colonists convinced that it was the 
truth ? When he said to those, and they were many,^ who 
only asked, " Bring us back to the state we were in in 
1763," that this was impossible, for, though obnoxious laws 
might be repealed, the feelings of that period could never 
be revived, he told them the truth ; but were they convinced 
of it ? When he said to the colonists. Unless you strike for 
something higher and nobler than a mere compromise, 
which at best'could be but temporary, you engage in a mis- 
erable game, he again told them the truth ; but did they 
perceive that the play was not worth the candle ? The 
conclusions of "Common Sense," it was urged, were true, 
and his reasoning irrefutable, but the change of opinion it 
was claimed they had wrought was so great and marvellous 
that it was prudent to wait for more evidence than Congress 
had of it. Independence must be declared, it was admitted, 
but it did not follow that it must theii be declared. Delay 
of a few months could do no harm, on the contrary might 
insure the success of the great measure. Those were over- 
sanguine who expected great imuiediate effects upon foreign 
nations from the " Declaration :" France, for instance, would 
hardly march fifty thousand men into Germany to make a 
diversion in fiivor of the colonies. It was not the declara- 
tion of independence by the colonies, but their manifested 
ability to maintain it, that would determine France, aiid 
Spain, and Holland, to enter into treaties of alliance with 
them. The declaration, then, would gain nothing for the 
colonists abroad, and might drive numbers, more timid or 
cautious or less enthusiastic than others, into the ranks of 
the loyalists and Tories, who, if not disturbed in the calm 
exercise of their judgment by so strong a resolve, would in 
no long time be convinced that independence was the only 
measure which could insure permanent peace, safety, and 
prosperity to the American colonies. Did not the very 
anxiety for foreign alliance indicate doubt of the ability of 
America to maintain the contest unaided ? There was no 
oracle to which the American senators could bring these 
doubts for solution. They asked for delay of this great step, 
and not for its rejection, for all were in favor of it. Was 



164 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 

this unreasonable, when it was admitted, in the language of 
Mr. Jefferson, " that New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, 
Delaware, and Maryland were not yet matured for falling 
from tlie parent stem, but were fast advancing to that con- 
dition"?* When the only concession to their doubts and 
fears was a delay of less than one month, was it unreason- 
able in them not to be satisfied ? Mr. Read, looking, as he 
was especially bound to do, to the effect of the Declaration 
of Independence upon his own colony, where disaffection to 
the Continental Congress was great, and the hostility be- 
tween the Whigs and Tories most virulent, could scarcely 
hope that it would be like that of oil on troubled water. 

Mr. Read's instructions of March 22d, 1776 {ante, page 
149), did not authorize him to vote for independence, but, on 
the contrary, by enjoining upon him and his colleagues to 
embrace every favorable opportunity to eflect reconciliation 
with Great Britain, impliedly forbade such vote. But on 
the 14th of June, 1776, the General Assembly of the three 
lower counties upon Delaware gave, by unanimous vote, 
new instructions, which, though not directly, yet virtually, 
empowered them to assent to a declaration of independence, 
while they left them at liberty to vote for or against it as 
they might deem best or most expedient, thus indicating 
the greatest confidence in their wisdom and integrity. These 
instructions are as follows : 

"Instructions to the Deputies appointed by this Govern- 
ment TO MEET in General Congress which were approved 
unanimously :-|- 

^'Firsf, That you concur with the other delegates in Con- 
gress in forming such further compacts between the United 
Colonies, and concluding such treaties with foreign kingdoms 
and states, and in adopting such other measures as shall be 
judged necessary for promoting the liberty, safety, and in- 
terests of America, reserving to the people of this colony 
the sole and exclusive right of regulating the internal 
government and police of the same. 

^'Second, On every necessary occasion you are firmly to 

* Joffcrson's Writings, vol. i. p. 17. 

f PeiHisvlvania Journal and Weekly Advertiser, No. 1750, Wednes- 
da}', June'lDth, 177G. 



OF GEORGE READ. 165 

urge the right of this government to an equal voice in Con- 
gress with any other province or government on this conti- 
nent, as the inhabitants thereof have their all at stake, as 
well as others. 

"Extract from the minutes of the General Assembly of 
New Castle, Kent, and Sussex on Delaware. 

"James Booth,* Ckrh. 

"June 14th, 1776." 

Until the resolution declaring the colonies free and inde- 
pendent states was adopted, Mr. Read, being of opinion that 
the measure was premature, was bound to oppose and vote 
against it; and he did so; but when (July 2d) it was adopted 
there was presented for his decision the question, "Should 
he sign the Declaration, or not?" He was not opposed to 
the measure, which would have been an insuperable objec- 
tion : therefore, why not sign ? Would his refusal to do so 
rescind the resolve? No, for it was un fait accompli; but 
it would aid the opponents of the measure in their efforts 
to prevent its sanction by the people, and if that should 
not be given it might be fatal to success in the struggle 
with Britain. If he withheld his signature, he could not 
be re-elected, it was probable, to the Continental Congress, 
nor to any public station, and would thus be deprived of all 
power to serve his country. Should he not, then, yield his 
own opinion, on a mere question of expediency, to a major- 
ity of delegates, almost a unanimity, — his own colleagues 
being part of it, — when he could perceive no possible 
benefit to his country from maintaining this opinion ? True, 
if he set his name to the instrument which proclaimed that 
the thirteen American colonies had taken their place among 
the nations of the earth, his risk of life and estate would be 
much increased, should the British triumph; but superior 
to a consideration purely selfish, as was this, he signed the 
Declaration of Independence,f and when Joseph Galloway 
tauntingly said "he had done so with a rope about his 



* See Appendix A, post, of this chapter. 

These instructions were the same as those of the Pennsylvania dele- 
gates, June, 1776, for which see Pitkin's History of the United States, 
vol. vi. pp. 263, 264. 

•f- See Appendix (to chapter iii.) C 



166 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 

neck," he replied, " I know the risk, and am prepared for 
all consequences." 

While John Dickinson, whose services in the early 
stages of the contest had been so great, and his popu- 
larity commensurate, voting against the Declaration and 
refusing to sign it, had fallen from his exalted place in 
the esteem and confidence of his countrymen, Mr. Read, 
with James Wilson, and the great financier Robert Morris, 
who voted with Dickinson, but afterwards affixed their 
names to that instrument, were re-elected year after year 
to the Continental Congress; and Mr. Read, in his own 
county, where the Whigs were numerous and influential, 
to the Assembly and Council of his State. The reason 
is obvious. Those best qualified to judge them discrimi- 
nated between a vote against independence as premature, 
and hostility to that great measure; and yet, at a later 
period, men wiser in their own conceit than the constitu- 
ents of these patriots have classed them for this vote with 
loyalists and Tories. While I maintain that contemporaries 
are to be esteemed the best judges on this question, because 
the best informed upon it, I do not hold they were infalli- 
ble, but think they judged John Dickinson hardly.* He, 
with all the speakers, Mr. Jefibrson declares, in the memor- 
able debate on the resolution that the thirteen colonies 
ought to be declared independent of Britain, avowed them- 
selves in favor of that measure, and opposed it as prema- 
ture, and, as appears by his summary of their arguments, 
urged none against independence. The diiference between 
Mr. Dickinson and Mr. Read, it seems to me, was that the 
first was timid, the last cautious. 

Whatever diversity of opinion may have existed as to 
the time of adopting the Declaration of Independence, the 
strictest union and co-operation were observed when its 
immediate necessity was impressed upon the minds of the 
minority. The glory of the enterprise in which they had 
embarked appeared the same to all, and all regarded inde- 
pendence as the only security for peace and liberty. With 

* "John Dickinson's opposition to the Declaration of Independence 
was an example of moral courage of which there are few instances in 
our history." — HildretlV^ History of the United States, vol. ii. series ii., 
p. 330. 



OF GEORGE READ. 167 

tliem peace and liberty were indissolubl}^ connected ; " et 
nomen pacis diilce est, et ipsa res salutaris; sed inter pacem 
et servitutem plurimum interest; pax est tranquilla libertas 
servitus malorum omnium postremum; non modo bello, sed 
morte repellendum."''' Such were the sentiments of our 
forefiithers, and in the fruits of their toil, their sacrifices, 
and their wisdom, we enjoy the repose of liberty, and they 
have merited and obtained a high and noble station among 
the heroes and patriots of the world. f 

After the evacuation of Boston, General Howe retired 
with his army to Halifax, there to await expected reinforce- 
ments. But, from the commanding hill on which Halifax 
is built, week after week he in vain strained his eyes to 
catch the first glimpse of the longed-for fleet parting the 
translucent surface of Chebucto Bay. His troops suffered 
lor want of fresh provisions, and impatience of inaction ; 
winter lingered with the murky fogs common in that season 
in Nova Scotia, and every passing hour took from the brief 
period for active operations against the rebels. He deter- 
mined to sail for the vicinity of New York and await 
reinforcements there. The plan of the contemplated cam- 
paign against the Americans was judicious. It had three 
objects, — the recovery of Canada, with the opening, as a 
consequence, of the communication with New York by the 
lakes, an attack upon the Southern colonies, and the occu- 
pation of the city of New York, with the islands and 
territory adjacent to it. The Americans were excited and 
anxious, and well they might be so. Congress was debating 
in secret session the question of independence, and the re- 
sult of this debate was momently expected, and at the same 
time everywhere men watched for the jaded express-rider 
witli the announcement that the British fleet had anchored 
in New York Bay. There was no room to doubt that New 
York would be attacked. Occupying New York and the 

* Cicero. — Oratio in Marcum Antouium, section xliv. p. 652. 

f The Continental Congress sat with closed doors ; and if Mr. Jeffer- 
son had not taken notes of the debate in committee of the whole, on 
the motion of the Virginia delegation that the thirteen colonies should 
be declared independent, this debate would have been lost to histor}'. 
I subjoin, as an appendix to this chapter of Mr. Read's life, Mr. Jeffer- 
son's " Summary of this Debate," for the reader's convenience. See 
Appendix B. 



Z' 



168 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 

islands in its vicinity, and having, as was certain from naval 
superiority, command of its waters, Sir William Howe could 
from that point choose his theatre of operation in the State 
of New York or New England, the Middle or Southern colo- 
nies, while the fertile neighboring islands and country would 
furnish abundant supplies for his army, and its presence 
embolden the American loyalists, who were numerous, and, 
having command of the Hudson, he could prevent, or at 
least make difficult, the communication between New Eng- 
land and the Middle and Southern colonies. New York, 
immediately after the evacuation of Boston, was occupied 
and fortified by the American army, and Long Island, with- 
out the possession of which it was untenable. Should the 
attempt be made to hold both ? The almost universal response 
was in the affirmative. The successes of our armies, crowned 
by the recent repulse of the British in their attack upon Fort 
Moultrie, had inspired confidence in our troops, which Gen- 
eral Washington by no means shared. The inherent vices 
of our military system, short enlistments and reliance upon 
hasty levies of militia, the subjects of his frequent repre- 
sentation and remonstrance to Congress, made it but too 
evident to him that an army thus constituted could not 
cope with disciplined and veteran soldiers in the open field. 
But, in the state of opinion in Congress and without it, to 
have retreated from Long Island and New York without a 
contest would have been almost as injurious to the American 
cause as defeat; besides, as the American army had defensi- 
ble heights in front of their fortified camp in the rear of 
Brooklyn, they might, with hope of success, venture a battle. 
Washington resolved to await the attack of the British. 
The Greyhound frigate, with General Howe on board, with 
seven transports conveying a regiment of Highlanders, 
towards the end of June was descried from Sandy Hook, 
and was soon followed by the first and rear divisions of his 
army. The ink was scarcely dry of the first general signa- 
ture of the Declaration of Independence on the 4th of July, 
when General Howe completed the debarkation of his army 
on Staten Island. On the 23d of August, in the period in- 
tervening between that time and his arrival in the Grey- 
hound, having been every day, almost, reinforced by troops 
from England and those detached to the Southern colonies, 
he landed his army, with its artillery, except a small reserve, 



OF GEORGE BEAD. 169 

on Long TsLand, at Gravesend Bay. His plan of attack wns 
judicious. It was to engage the attention of the Americans* 
by feints upon their center and right wing, while General 
Clinton, with a strong division, should essay to turn their 
left flank, and get into their rear. The engagement began 
at daybreak, August 27th. General Clinton finding the pass 
by the Bedford road unguarded seized it, advanced into the 
plain between it and Brooklyn, and attacked and routed 
the left wing of the American army, while its center, at 
Flatbush, and its right, on the coast-road, were assailed and 
defeated by Generals Heister and Grant, the Americans 
fighting at the greatest disadvantage, when the enemy, by 
Clinton's successful movement, engaged them at the same 
time in front and rear. There seems to me some ground 
for censure of General Putnam, and perhaps of the Ameri- 
can commander-in-chief, for not sufficiently guarding the 
Bedford road. General Sullivan commanded"}- the whole 
force defending the wooded heights. It is true, his force 
was inadequate to defend these heights, which were pass- 
able everywhere by infantry, and through which led three 
roads, any one of which the enemy might choose for his 
main assault; but as his only mode of remedying his defi- 
ciency of troops was by his immediate knowledge of the 
point of that assault and prompt reinforcement of the 
division guarding it, and he seems not to have given its 
due share of attention to the Bedford road, so that the left 
flank of the American army was surprised and turned, 
there seems room to impute to him some deficiency of 
vigilance. But if censure attaches to him or his superiors, 
it is much alleviated by the circumstances of the case. The 
want of vedettes seems to me an insufficient excuse for the 
surprise of the American left wing; for though cavalry were 

* Brooklyn, Avhere the Americans were posted, is situated on a small 
peninsula formed by the East River, the Bay of New York, and Gowan's 
• Cove. The American lines were at the back of Brooklyn, then a village, 
and looked towards the mainland of Long Island : they extended across 
the peninsula, from Whaaleboght Bay, in the East River, on the left, to 
a deep marsh, on a creek, debouching into Gowan's Cove, on the right, 
and in front of these lines wooded hills stretched almost the length of 
the island, their rear being covered and protected by formidable l)atteries 
on Redhook, Governor's Island, and East River, the last mentioned of 
which kept open the communication with New York. 

f Marshall's Life of Washington, vol. ii. p. 441. 

12 



170 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 

wanting, yet, as there were horses, and men to mount upon 
them, a commander of an3' resource would have extemporized 
vedettes.'-' The masterl}' retreat of our army, in the face 
of the enemy, more numerous, better disciplined, and elated 
by victory ,-|- consoled the Americans, in some degree, under 
their defeat, was almost as creditable to Washington as a 
victory, and reanimated the drooping confidence of his 
countrymen in his generalship. The fog, such as had not 
been known in August for thirty j^ears, which, while it was 
clear in New York, hung over Long Island and veiled the 
retreating army till its rear was beyond the fire of the Brit- 
ish, was hailed, not only by enthusiastic and superstitious 
but by sober-minded Americans, as a sign that God was their 
ally, as He, the Lord of Sabaoth, took part with the Israel- 
ites when the pillar of cloud, at his command, went from 
before their face and stood between them and the pursuing 
host of Egypt. This brief notice of the movements of the 
British army after the evacuation of Boston, and of the 
battle of Brooklyn, seems necessary to introduce the follow- 
ing letters of Colonel Bedford and General Rodne}-, which, 
now first published, furnish some facts additional to the 
history of this battle. The biography of a public man must, 
to be coherent and intelligible, have interwoven with it 
portions of the general history of his times, at the risk of 
wearying readers familiar with it. 

" New York, 2Tth [August], 1776. 

" Dear Sir, — I should have wrote you before this, but 
want of time and opportunity and nothing worth commu- 
nicating are the reasons I did not. A day or two after 
our arrival at this place we were furnished with tents, and 
encamped about two miles out of the city, up the North 
River, till yesterday, when our brigade, which is Lord Ster- 



* This he alleged that be did. Letter to John Hancock, 25th October, 
17(7. 

f " To do full justice to this masterly retreat, it must be considered 
that tliey [the Americans] had been driven to the corner of an island, 
where they were iiiclosetl in a space of two square miles, with near 
20,000 disciplined troops in front, and in the rear an arm of the sea near 
a mile wide, which could not be crossed but in several debarkations, and 
notwithstanding these obstacles they did not lose a man, and carried off 
the greater part of llieir provisions, ammunition, and artillery." — Bis- 
setVs liif^tury of the Reign of George III., vol. i. p. 401. 



OF GEORGE READ. 171 

ling's, were ordered and marched to Long Island, about 
three miles from this, and within two of the enemy, n,t a 
place called Flatbush, of which they have taken possession 
with a large advanced party. Our people. I am told, are 
advantageously posted, being in possession of the heights. 
Our army on Long Island is said to be ten or twelve thou- 
sand. It is conjectured the enem}^ are nearly the same. 
Lord Sterlin2;'s briji-ade consists of Miles' two battalions, 
Alice's, Smallwood's, Hechlin's, of Lancaster County, 
Shutze's, of York County, and our regiment, which is 
thought here to be a fine brigade, the flower of the army. 

" 1 should have gone over yesterday, but a general 
court-martial sitting, of which I was a member, prevented 
me. It was for the trial of Lieutenant-Colonel Zidwitz, of 
a New York regiment, for corresjDondence with the enemy. 
A letter of his to Governor Tryon was detected before the 
delivery of it, in which he proposes to furnish the general 
with a weekly return of our army, and to be every other 
way at his service, for a proper gratuit}^ He was found 
guilty of the attempt, and sentenced to be cashiered. He 
certainlv deserved more, but the 'Articles of War' seem a 
little defective, otherwise he would not have come off so 
well. [Diary of the Revolution, vol. i. pp. 299, 305; vol. 
ii. p. 157;] 

"We have just received intelligence of a fleet being seen 
in the sound, about sixty or seventy miles from this place, 
to the eastward, which will cut oft' the water-communica- 
tion with the Eastern colonies. It has been long expected. 
Since our being here, every tide has given us expectation 
of the enemy's approach. The fleet since their landing the 
troops on Long Island is much diminished. There seems 
at this time six sail of men-of-war in motion. We must 
have a large army here and on Long Island, but I believe 
not so many as is generally said. They talk [of] twenty- 
five or thirty thousand. The Eastern regiments in general 
are very small. The works here are strong and extensive, 
and will require many men to occupy them. 

" The report of last night from Long Island was that the 
enemy are much annoyed by our people, they scarcely dar- 
ing to go outside of their breastworks at Flatbush. About 
two thousand Hessians, it is said, are on Long Island, and 
at the advanced post. I heard Lord Sterling yesterday say 



172 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 

about twenty of them are killed. We have lost two [killed] 
and three wounded. He likewise said he yesterday saw 
them kill a horse, cut him up, and dress him. Our people 
are well supplied with provisions, and I hope on Long 
Island they will be furnished with water, which at this 
place was rather scarce and not good. 

"If I should have the pleasure of hearing from you, 
please direct your letter to be left at Mr. Bradford's Cciffee- 
House, New York. Remember me, if you please, affection- 
ately to James and Thomas. 

" I am, sir, your affectionate brother, 

" G. Bedford.'^ 

" To George Read. Esquire, Philadelphia." 

Colonel Bedford writes again to Mr. Read from 

" New York, September 1st, 17*76. 

" Dear Sir, — Eight days ago I wrote you, per post, in- 
forming you we were ordered to Long Island. Immediately 
on our going there, intelligence was received that the enemy 
were advancing in three large bodies. Our brigade, under 
Lord Sterling, was quickly ordered out to meet them, which 
they did in a short time. We found their numbers were 
three to one, with a large train of artillery, and [they] had 
possessed themselves of the m.ost advantageous situations 
.and passes, notwithstanding which Lord Sterling would 
engage. Colonel Miles' two battalions suffered much, as 
did also Colonel Atlee's, having lost at least one-half of 
each, with a number of officers. Colonel Parry was killed, 
as is supposed, Lieutenant-Colonel Piper, witli Colonel Miles 
and Colonel Atlee taken prisoners. Lieutenants Stewart 
and Harney of our regiment, we fear, are among the slain, 
as there was no account of their being prisoners, and we 
had a flag from the enemy informing who were. Major 
McDonough, Lieutenant Anderson, and Ensign Course are 
slightly wounded, all except Course being fit for duty the 



* The Council of Safety of the" Three Lower Counties on Dela- 
ware" having- reconiinended sundry gentlemen for field-officers of the 
battalion ordered to be raised in that colony, the Cong'ivss, on Tuesday, 
January 19th, 1770, proceeded to an election, and, the ballots being- 
taken. John Haslet, E.'^quii-e, was elected colonel, and Gunning- I'edford, 
Esquire, lieulenantcolunel. — Journah of Congreax, vol. i. p. 30. 



OF GEORGE READ. 173 

next day, Genoral Sallivan and Lord Sterling were taken 
prisoners, Lord Sterling not until the last, as he kept Colonel 
Sinallwood's and our regiment four hours after every other 
regiment had retreated from the field, drawn up for battle 
in sight of five brigades of the enemy, who were surround- 
ing us fast, when we received orders to retreat. On our 
retreat our regiment filed off [to] the left iu pursuit of a 
small detachment of the enemy, which we made prisoners, 
— a lieutenant, twenty-three grenadiers, and three Hessians. 
Smallwood proceeded on, and fell into an ambuscade of at 
least double their number. They engaged them, and lost 
near three hundred men, killed and taken prisoners. I 
am just informed General Sullivan came up to New York 
last evening to negotiate an exchange of prisoners. The 
proposal is Lord Sterling and General Sullivan for General 
Prescott and General Grant, who they supposed might be 
a prisoner; but our people say he fell on the field, and tbat 
his hat, with his name in the inside, and a bullet-hole 
through it, is brought in. I don't know the certainty of it, 
as I have not been out of our camp since here, and have it 
only by the report now in camp. I forgot to mention that 
it was thought advisable to retreat from Long Island to 
this place, our lines there being but indifferent, and our 
people very sickly. We expect with our brigade to go to 
Kings-Bridge this day or to-morrow : part of it are gone ; it 
is now General Mifflin's brigade. It is supposed the enemy 
will attempt that pass next. The men-of-war, in number 
twenty, are within a mile and a half of this place, New 
York. Their troops, it is supposed, are all on Long Island. 
I wish it may be in my power to inform you in my next of 
some agreeable news — what I have given you must be the 
reverse. This opportunity has waited with some impa- 
tience ; I therefore must conclude, with my compliments to 
Mrs. Read, and love to the children. 

" Your affectionate brother, and humble servant, 

'' Gunning Bedford. 
" To George Read, Esquire, Philadelphia." 

Caesar Rodney writes to Mr. Read, then presiding in the 
convention which framed the first constitution of Delaware, 
as follows, from 



174 LIFE AND COBRESPONDENCE 

"Philadelphia, September 4th, 1776. 

"Sir, — Inclosed you have a resolution* of Congress. 
One of these papers was delivered to the delegates of each 
colony, to be by them transmitted to their several Assem- 
blies or Conventions, that order might be taken thereon. 

"I mentioned in my last the arrival of General Sullivan, 
and then hinted the business of his coming. The da}^ I 
wrote you last he was admitted in Congress, and informed 
them that he had been on board the Eagle, and there had 
private conversation with Lord Howe: the substance of 
which was that his lordship declared that he had ample 
powers, together with the general, to settle matters between 
Great Britain and colonies in such a manner as should be 
for the true interest and benefit of both, and to make such 
settlement permanent: that he wished for nothing more 
than to converse with General Washington, or some one or 
more members of Congress, on that head; but that there 
was a difficulty in the way which prevents it, for that his 
rank and situation wj^s attended with that kind of delicacy 
that he could not treat with the Congress as such, and had 
no doubt that the Congress, from their situation, lay under 
the same difficulty; therefore [he] proposed his having con- 
versation of an hour or two with some of the members as 
private gentlemen : that he would meet them in that char- 
acter also wherever they pleased: that he did not doubt, 
by this step, matters might be put in a train of accommo- 
dation ; if not, that it would only be so much time lost : 
that his lordship further said, that he had staid in England 
two months, after he was otherwise ready to come, on pur- 
pose to obtain those ample powers before mentioned, by 
which means the Declaration of Independence had taken 
place before his arrival. There was other conversation, 
such as that his lordship thought this a fine country, that 
he had many friends and acquaintances here, and that he 
should be pleased nmch to have an opportunity to ride 
through the country to see them, etc. You, sir, may be 
desirous to know what Congress think of this message 
delivered by Sullivan at the request of Lord Howe. To 
satisfy your desire, I think I may venture to say that a 

* For, I suppose, the enlistment of a permanent army. Marshall's 
Life of Washing-tun, vol. ii. p. 456. 



OF GEORGE READ. 175 

very great majority of the members look on it as an insult, 
and [1] believe a resolution will pass that no proposals for 
the future be received unless reduced to writing, and signed 
[by] some person who has authority to treat with the Con- 
gress as an assembly of the United Independent States of 
America, or to that effect. 

"From certain intelligence received since I wrote last, 
Colonel Haslet, Colonel Smallwood, and Colonel Bedford 
were sitting on a court-martial in York at the time the 
Delawares and Marylanders were engaged with the enemy:* 
that those two battalions fought as bravely as men could 
possibly do: that the Marylanders lost two hundred and 
fifty-nine men missing, many of whom were killed : that it 
was owing chiefly to their being separated, by which means 
the enemy got between them and obliged them to fight in 
small parties. The Delawares, being well trained, kept 
and fought in a compact body the whole time, and, when 
obliged to retreat, ke[)t their ranks, and entered the lines 
in that order, frequently, while retreating, obliged to fight 
their way througli bodies of the enemy who had before 
made an attack on our lines, where they were repulsed, and 
were also retreating, and met each other. The Delawares, 
in this retreat, lost four or five men, one or two killed and 
two or three drowned in crossing a creek. This would 
have been all their loss; but, unfortunately, about the 
beginning of the engagement a small party of observa- 
tion was placed at some distance, with whom they could 
never again join, the enemy having got between them, 
though frequently attempted. [The] greatest part of those 

* Major McDonongh was in immediate command of the Delaware 
regiment, being senior officer present. 

" Tlie Assembly of the counties on Delaware, having recommended 
a gentleman to be major of the battalion ordered to be raised in that 
county in the room of John Macpherson, who fell before Quel)ec and 
never received his commission, the Congress proceeded to the election, 
and, the ballots being taken and examined, Thomas McDonough was 
elected, March 2-2d, 1776." — Journals of Congress, vol. ii. p. 100. 

Major McDonough was a physician. He did not long remain in the 
military service, but returned to private life and the practice of medi- 
cine until after 1792, when he was appointed an associate judge of the 
Court of Common Pleas, which oifice he held until his death, in 1795. 
He was the father of Commodore McDonough, who, in September, 
1814, captured the British fleet on Lake Champlain after a sanguinary 
battle. — Delaware Register, vol. i. p. 343. 



176 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 

were lost, either killed or taken prisoners, but supposed 
chiefly killed. Upon the whole, the Delaware battalion 
has now missing thirty-one, including two officers, to wit, 
Lieutenant Stewart and Lieutenant Harney. The major 
had a slight wound on the knee. This is the whole of the 
damage they have sustained. Captain Adams, of Kent, 
after fighting bravely a considerable time, was seized with 
a most violent colic. He was sent off the ground, and a 
soldier with him, to conduct him to our lines. On his way 
he had to cross a deep marsh, in which, when the battalion 
crossed [it], they found him fast expiring. They carried 
him over on boards, [and] got him in the lines, and he is 
now well. 

'•Our old friend Billy Livingston is appointed Governor 
of the Jersey [s], Ogden, Chief Justice. The other appoint- 
ments not yet come to hand. 

"1 am, sir, your sincere friend and humble servant, 

"Cesar Rodney. 

"P.S. — You will communicate the matter relating to 
Sullivan's message to Mr. McKean. 
"George Read, Esquire." 

The foregoing letters of Colonel Bedford and Ca3sar Rod- 
ney are especially valuable to the citizens of Delaware, for 
they add another leaf to the laurels won by the gallant 
Delaware regiment in many a well-fought field. 

It appears from these letters that the Delawares were 
associated with four hundred of Smallwood's regiment in 
the brilliant attack upon Lord Cornwallis; 

That the Maryland and Delaware regiments were kept 
on the ground, drawn up for battle, four hours after every 
o her regiment had retreated, in sight of five brigades of 
the enemy, and were not ordered to retreat until nearly 
surrounded ; and 

That while Smallwood's regiment fell into an ambuscade, 
and lost, after engaging double their number, near three 
hundred men, killed and taken prisoners, owing chietly to 
their being separated, the Delawares, being well trained, 
kept and fought in a compact body, even on their retreat, 
during which, in the face of a superior force, they captured 
a small detachment of the enemy, and in that order, to the 
admiration of their countrymen, entered the American lines. 



OF GEORGE BEAD. 177 

"The Delaware regiment was reckoned the most efficient 
in the Continental army."* It went into active service soon 
after the commencement of the contest with Great Britain, 
and served through the whole of it. Courting danger 
wherever it was to be encountered, frequently forming part 
of a victorious army, but oftener the companions of their 
countrymen in the gloom of disaster, the Delawares fought 
at Brooklyn, at Trenton and at Princeton, at Brandywine 
and at German town, at Guildford and at Eutaw, until at 
length, reduced to a handful of brave men, they concluded 
their services with the war in the glorious termination of 
the Southern campaign. 

The " three lower counties on Delaware" are part of the 
North American continent discovered by John and Sebas- 
tian Cabot, sailing in 1697 under a commission from Henry 
VIII. of England. The Delaware Bay, called by the Indians 
"Poutaxat," and the river, by them named "Arasapha" and 
"Lenape WehuUuck," or "the rapid stream,"f were discov- 
ered and explored, how far is uncertain, in 1610, by Henry 
Hudson, who was in the service of the Dutch West India 
Company, and who, it has been said, sold his right to the 
Dutch, but at what time they settled on the Delaware is 
uncertain; however, as early as 1623 they had a small tov/n 
at Gloucester Point and a fort at Nassau. The Swedes as 
early as 1631 settled at Lewes (Swaendal), Christiana, ai.id 
other places on the Delaware, under purchases from the 
Indian sachems. The contest which ensued between the 
Swedes and Dutch for the Delaware territory was termi- 
nated by the successful expedition of Governor Stuyvesant 
from New York in 1655, to whom it was surrendered and 
the principal Swedes expelled. The English under Sir 
Robert Carr conquered the Delaware territory in 1664. It 
was reconquered by the Dutch, but only held till 1667, 
when, by the treaty of Breda, it was restored to the Eng- 
lish. In 1670 the Swedes, Dutch, and Fins, few in number, 
were settled along the west side of the Delaware from New 
Castle (the chief town of the Delaware territory) to a point 
sixty miles above it.J This territory was granted by Charles 



* Ramsay's History of the United States, vol. i. p. 209. 

f Watson's Annals. 

i Hazard's Annals, vol. i. p. 381. 



178 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 

II. to James, Duke of York, and by him, 24th August, 1682, 
to William Penn, who, be'fore he left England to take pos- 
session of Pennsylvania and the "Territory," prepared "a 
frame of government" and "fundamental laws" for both. 
The Delaware territory, 7th day of December, 1682, was 
by Governor Penn, with the advice and consent of the 
freemen of that territory and of the Province of Pennvsyl- 
vania, annexed thereto,* the people of both, with one 
Assembly, to be governed by the same laws and enjoy the 
same privileges, and by the act of settlement^ the first 
charter, dated the 25th day of the 2d month. 1682, was, 
with modifications, accepted. In 1701, being foimd not so 
suitable as it had been, in some particulars, to the circum- 
stances of the inhabitants, this charter was surrendered by 
six parts of seven of the freemen of tiie province and terri- 
tory, and one better adapted to their condition granted, 
October, 1701, and accepted the same day. By the second 
article of this charter it was provided that there shonld be 
one Assembly for the three counties of the province and the 
three counties of the territory, each to choose fonr repre- 
sentatives, and one Council, to consist of eighteen members, 
three Iroin each of the connties. This union of the province 
and territory lasted till the session of their common Assem- 
bly, which terminated the 28th day of October, 1701. 
Durini!" that session two members of Council brousrht into 
the House of Representatives a bill for the confirmation of 
the laws passed at New Castle the year preceding, and the 
vote being put, October 10th, whether this bill should pass 
into a law, the Delaware members, except two from Sussex, 
declared their negative to this bill, having never dispnted 
the validity of these laws, and arose and left the House; 
but the bill, notwithstanding this secession, was enacted. 
They returned on the 15th of October, upon condition that 
they shonld enter their dissent to this bill, their further 
proposed condition that " nothing should be carried over 
their heads by outvoting them" being rejected, and rightly, 
"as in) practicable and inconsistent with the privileges of 
Assemblies;" but the confirmation-bill, before mentioned, 
being again read, and it being proposed to read the laws it 
was to confirm three times, the Delaware members departed 

* Delaware Laws, vol. i., Appendix, pp. 8-10. f Ibid., p. 11. 



OF GEORGE READ. 179 

the House again. There was immediately a conference of 
the House with the Governor to endeavor an accommoda- 
tion with these seceders, and it was successful. In the 
afternoon of the same day (the loth) they came again into 
the House, and a letter was read from the Governor to the 
whole House, in which he declared " he expected their peace 
and accommodation of one another, the reputation of which 
was something, but the reality much more," exhorted them 
'Ho yield in circumstantials to preserve essentials," and be- 
sought them " not to make him sad, as he was then going 
to leave them;" and, the Governor having assured the House 
" that he should offer nothing further to the House," the 
Delaware representatives sat down, but, steady in their op- 
position, not till they again declared their negative vote to 
the passing of the confirmatory bill. After the rising of 
this General Assembly on the 28th of October, 1701, Penn 
went to England, and the representatives of the "Province" 
and "Territory" never after joined in any acts of legislation, 
though the deputy-governor and Council often endeavored 
to restore their union. The last of these attempts was by 
Governor Evans, April, 1704, upon the offer of the Delaware 
representatives, who met in Philadelphia on the 10th of that 
month, expecting to unite in Assembly with the Pennsyl- 
vania members, but, as they stated, "found themselves 
disappointed by the Pennsylvanians pretending a former 
separation ;" notwithstanding, fearing that disunion might 
prejudice the peace and interest of the proprietary and gov- 
ernment, they persisted in offering to join, provided there 
should be four representatives for each of the six counties, 
but the Pennsylvanians would not yield, for "the Dela- 
wareans had alleged yesterday that they could not act 
together, because they were called together by writ, the 
Pennsylvanians by charter, and because the separation could 
not be called ' pretended,' seeing it had been forced upon 
them by the Delaware members refusing to act with them 
on several occasions." So, being settled in a separate As- 
sembly, they declined the proposed union, and coolly told 
them, in conclusion, that "they too may form themselves 
into a separate Assembly, and by mutual candor and good 
neighborhood the evils feared from separation, they hoped, 
might be prevented." Penn, though believing that the 
legislative union of his province and territory would be for 



180 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 

the advantage of both, yet, after this untoward occurrence, 
notwithstanding the closure and test of the cliarter of 
1701, added thereto an article by which he granted them 
the privilege of establishing, within three years, distinct 
Assemblies. It is stated in the Appendix to the Laws of 
Delaware, volume i. p. 49, from which I have obtained the 
foregoing facts in relation to the union and separation of 
the "Province of Pennsylvania" and the "Delaware Terri- 
tory," that these facts were extracted from a book entitled 
"Votes and Proceedings of the House of Representatives of 
the Province of Pennsylvania, beginning 4th December, 
1682, vol. i., in 2 parts," printed in Philadelphia by Ben- 
jamin Franklin and D. Hall, 1752, there being no minute 
of legislative proceedings of such an earlj^ period extant in 
the State of Delaware, the traditional account being that 
all such minutes preceding the year 1722 were destroyed 
by fire in the burning of Colonel John French's house in 
New Castle, where they were reposited. 

The " Territory" seems during the '•' union" to have en- 
joyed due consideration, and there was a disposition in the 
province to conciliate it, the joint Assembly having met as 
often in New Castle as in Philadelphia. I find no reason 
stated for " the confirmatory bill," the introduction'of which 
disturbed the harmony of the joint Assembly, and the laws of 
1700, liaving been enacted by the Proprietary and Governor, 
with the advice and consent of the freemen of the province 
and territory, in conformity with the charter,* seem to me 
not to have needed it, unless the surrender of the charter 
to be immediately restored with modifications made it neces- 
sary, which cannot, I believe, be shown. The blame of 
originating this difficulty, from what appears, was with the 
"Province." Secession, it is true, was a strong measure, 
but the territorial members did not persist in it, and en- 
deavored afterwards in vain to re-establish the legislative 
union. Among them were William Rodney, ancestor of 
Ca3sar Rodney, who signed the Declaration of Independence, 
and Richard Hallowell, the generous donor of a beautiful 

* Five of these laws are in the Appendix to vol. i. Delaware Laws, 
pp. 26-37, viz.: the Acts " for ascertaining descents," "for confirming 
devises of lands and nnneupative wills," "for empowering administra- 
tors to sell lands to pay debts." " for confirming freeholders in their 
lands," and ''for taking land in execution." 



OF GEORGE READ. 181 

farm close to New Castle, for the use of the rector for the time 
being of the Episcopal church there, which has been for almost 
a century and a half held and enjoyed by the ministers of 
that church. James Logan, the friend of Penn, prominent 
in the early history of Pennsylvania, stated in 1708 "that 
New Castle did not prosper, as the inhabitants there wished, 
as the rivals of Philadelphia, because of their disorderly 
way of living, and the unhealthiness of the place, and that 
to make New Castle flourish they fell upon the expedient 
to separate the lower counties from the province and to 
make it a seat of government; but, notwithstanding, the in- 
habitants below have still preferred to bring their trade to 
Philadelphia." He adds, " Much of this scheme was projected 
and conducted by Jasper Yeates and J. Coutts."* Mr. 
Logan was a citizen of the " Province," one of the parties 
in this dispute, and may not have been exempt from the 
feelings and prejudices which unfitted a man to judge im- 
partially in this matter; and in nothing do men oftener 
mistake than in imputing motives. William Penn stated 
in 1704 "that the territory sought the union with the 
province, and he owes to the foul practices of Quarry the 
late defection of the people there."f 

The dissolution of this legislative union was fortunate, I 
think, for the "Territory." In 1701 the representatives 
of the " three lower counties on Delaware" were equal to 
those of the "Province;" but this equality could not con- 
tinue. Out of the vast territory over which the growing 
population of Pennsylvania would spread, new counties 
must inevitably be continually added to her original 
three counties ;J but the little "Territory" could hope 
for no such addition. In no long time her representatives 
would be in a minority of the joint Assembly, and, in con- 

* Edmundson, who was in New Castle, then called " Delaware 
Town," in 16T2, described its Finnish and Dutch inhabitants as very 
intemperate. — Watson''^ Annals of Fhiladelphia, p. 46. 

f " Quarry was Judge of Admiralty, and he, with David Lloyd, 
Attorney-General, and John Moore, advocate, were the ringleaders of 
the opposition to the Pennsylvania government. They were unwilling 
to provide an income for Pe"^nn and his officers, created embarrassments 
in the courts as to oaths and atfirmations, and desired to change the 
proprietary into a royal government." — Watson^s Annah, pp. 37, 39. 

X In 1776 there were twelve counties in Pennsylvania. — Faine^s 
Worksi, vol. ii. p. 142. 



182 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 

flicts of interest, at the mercy of the province; and if in 1704 
she had consented to the proposed union, the province 
might afterwards have established an influence potent 
enough to defeat an}' effort to dissolve it. 

The charter of 1702 was, unaltered, the fundamental 
law of the " three lower counties on Delaware" during the 
residue of their colonial existence. 

The Continental Congress, because the colonists were 
declared out of the royal protection, a deaf ear turned to 
their prayers for redress of grievances, and the military 
power of Great Britain, with, her German auxiliaries, was 
to be exerted ngainst them, recommended, May 15th, 1776, 
that all authority emanating from the crown of Great Brit- 
ain should be abrogated, and that the people of the United 
States should establish such governments as the}^ might 
deem best for their security and felicity. The Declaration 
of Independence soon followed, and made the measure thus 
recommended still more necessary, and constitutions were 
adopted by all the colonies except Rhode Island and Con- 
necticut, where no change was necessary, the legislature 
and executive being both under their charters eligible by 
the people. 

The House of Assembly of the " three lower counties 
on Delaware" in July, 1776, recommended their constitu- 
ents to choose ten deputies for each of these counties, to 
meet in convention and ordain and declare the future form 
of government for the State of Delaware.* These deputies 
were elected August the 19th, and met in New Castle, 
August 27th, and on the 29th proceeded to the choice of a 
President, when George Read was unanimously elected. 
On the 2d of September a committee, of which Mr. Read 
was chairman, was appointed to prepare a " Declaration of 
Rights," which on the 11th was reported, debated, amended, 
and adopted. On the 7tli the Convention named a com- 
mittee, of which Mr. Read was also chairman, to frame a 
constitution. This comtnittee reported on the loth. Their 
report was read a second time on the 15th, and, after some 
debate, recommitted. They reported again on the 16th, 
and the proposed system of government was debated from 
day to day till the 20th, when, with some amendments, it 

* See post, Appendix. 



OF GEOBGE READ. 183 

was agreed to. The yeas and nays appear but once upon 
the Journal (pp. 25, 26), and were called upon the question 
of expunging the two last parts of the 29th Article, which 
exclude the clergy, while exercising their functions, from 
holding any civil office in the State. The ayes, among them 
McKean and Van Dyke, were but six, so that there was 
an overwhelming majority against the proposition. Mr. 
Read's name does not appear in the list of votes, he not 
voting, I suppose, because there was no tie. 

By this Constitution the Legislature consists of two bodies, 
— the House of Assembly, of twenty-one members, seven 
for each count}', freeholders, eligible annually by the free- 
holders of these counties; and the Council, of nine members, 
freeholders of the age of upwards of twenty-five years, to 
be chosen in like manner, to serve for three years, but one 
to go out every year, and a successor to be elected with all 
the powers necessary to the Legislature of an independent 
state. The executive power was vested in a President, to 
be chosen by joint ballot of both Houses of the Legislature, 
and to continue in office three years He was empowered 
to draw money appropriated by the Legislature, to lay em- 
bargoes, but not longer than for thirty days in the recess of 
the Legislature; with the assent of the Privy Council, em- 
body and command in chief the militia, grant reprieves and 
pardons, and exercise all other powers of executive govern- 
ment, limited and restrained by the Constitution. The 
Privy Council to be chosen by joint ballot of the Assembly 
and Council, two by each. The delegates to the Conti- 
nental Congress to be annually chosen by joint ballot of the 
Assembly and Council. The judicial authority was vested 
in a Supreme Court for the State of three Justices, one of 
whom to be Chief Justice, and a Judge of Admiralty, and 
four Justices of the Court of Common Pleas and Orphans' 
Court (one of whom to be Chief Justice) for each county, 
to be chosen on joint ballot by the President and General 
Assembly, and continue in office during good behavior, an 
adequate and fixed and moderate salary being settled on 
them during their continuance in office. The Secretary of 
State, Attorney-General, Registers in Chancer}^, and clerks 
of Courts of Common Pleas, Orphans' Courts, and Clerks of 
the Peace, to be appointed by the President and Privy 
Council for five years, if they should so long behave well. 



184 LIFE AND COBBESPONDENCE 

Twer.ty-four Justices of the Pence to be nominated by the 
Legishiture for each county, from which the President, with 
the approbation of his Privy Council, was to select twelve 
for each county, to be commissioned for seven years, if so 
long behaving well. The Chief Justice of the Supreme 
Court to appoint the clerks thereof, and the Justices of the 
Courts of Common Pleas the Recorders of Deeds for five 
years. Two Sheriffs and a Coroner to be chosen annually 
for each county by the people, of whom the President and 
Privy Council to commission one. The Assembly to ap- 
point all general and field officers, and all other officers 
of the army or navy of the State, by joint ballot, and the 
President to appoint, during pleasure, all necessary civil 
officers not mentioned in the Constitution till the Legislature 
otherwise direct. The Court of Appeals to consist of seven 
persons, the President for the time being, and three to be 
appointed by the Plouse of Assembly, and three by the 
Council, so long as they behave themselves well. The 
Judges, Privy Councillors, Secretary, Trustee of the Loan 
Office, clerks of the Common Pleas courts, and army or 
navy contractors, ineligible to the Legislature, and seats of 
members thereof to be vacated by acceptance of any office 
under the Constitution, except that of Justice of the Peace. 
All officers to swear allegiance and obedience to the State 
of Delaware, and to faithfully execute their offices, and to 
make and subscribe a declaration, in writing, of their faith 
in the Trinity, and the divine inspiration of the H0I3' Scrip- 
tures. The President and other officers impeachable by 
the House of Assembly before the Legislative Council for 
misbehavior, and punishable by removal from, or disqualifi- 
cation to hold, office, or subjected to such penalties as law 
may direct, and all officers removable upon address of the 
Assembly. The English common and statute law declared 
to be in force, so fixr as adopted, and not repugnant to the 
Constitution or Bill of Rights until altered by the Legisla- 
ture. No person in future imported from Africa ought to be 
held in slavery, and no Indian, negro, or mulatto slave ought 
to be brought into Delaware for sale, from any part of the 
world, under any pretence. Freedom of elections is secured, 
religious establishments prohibited, and clergymen, while 
exercising their functions, excluded from office; and rash 
alterations of the Constitution are guarded against by 



OF GEORGE READ. 185 

making it unalterable except by the consent of five parts 
in ten of the House of Assembly, and seven of the council. 

The convention which adopted this Constitution sat 
twenty-six days. Its members were farmers and mer- 
chants, with a few lawyers, and their work has the merits 
and defects of the constitutions framed at the same time 
by their sister colonies, all of which have been altered, not 
always for the better. That men taken from the com- 
mon walks of life should so soon, so forcibly, and harmo- 
niously reconstruct the fundamental laws of communities, 
and admirably suit them to secure rights and promote hap- 
piness, is a marvel only to those ignorant of American 
character, history, and institutions. They were already in 
the enjoyment of all the great principles of free govern- 
ment, and had little more to do than to provide a few new 
agencies for administering it, or new names for existent 
ones, and some additional securities against the abuse of 
power.* 

This convention, "elected to ordain and declare the future 
form of government for the State of Delaware," did much 
besides exercising legislative, executive, and even judicial 
functions, without hesitation and without question, then 
or subsequently. Public exigencies compelled, and therefore 
justified, this irregularity. The convention ordered the 
raising, equipping, and marching of the quotas of militia 

* How unlike the members of the conventions and assemblies of the 
French Revolution, whose extravagances have excited, as they will 
excite, the mirth, but oftener the horror or indignation of all wlio have 
read, and may read, their history, — the page of it, for example, which 
chronicles the work of one memorable day, August the 4th, 1789, when 
there was a grand renunciation of privileges of nobles, clergy, corpora- 
tions, monopolists, and even of provinces ! I wonder these mercurial 
Frenchmen, so fond of melodrama, did not get up a scenic representa- 
tion of these renunciations, each figured by an appropriate emblem of 
costly material and beautiful or magnificent design, and when heaped 
upon the altar, the flamen of liberty, in classic costume, applying his 
torch to the patriotic offering. This 4th of August, first distinguished 
as "the day of sacrifices," is now known as "the day of dupes." The 
Constitution of 1791, a democracy having the king with little power 
at its head, was overthrown by the united force of the Girondists and 
Jacobins, and the well-meaning but visionary Girondists were soon 
swept away by the terrible energy of the Jacobins, who maintained 
their hideous despotism by the bayonet and the guillotine, and the 
reign of terror has been succeeded by various governments, the present 
probably no more stable than its predecessors. 

13 



186 LIFE AND GOERESPONDENCE 

required from the State by Congress, appointing, promoting, 
and commissioning officers, and settling their accounts, and 
borrowing money. (Journal, 2^(^ssim.) They (Journal, pp. 
31, 32) order the finishing of a powder-magazine near Wil- 
mington, and put it in charge of a fort-major and troops 
under him, and direct these troops to be raised. They 
(Journal, pp. 34, 35) frame and adopt instructions to re- 
cruiting-officers, and (p. 36) authorize a contract for making 
gunlocks. By the third of the Rules of Order (Journal, 
p. 6) members are forbidden to go out of the convention, 
after adjournment, before the President, under penalty of a 
check; or to leave it, when in session, longer than half an 
hour, under the penalty of five shillings. Members are 
required (Journal, p. 8) to make and subscribe the declara- 
tion of their faith in God the Father, God the Son, and 
God the Holy Ghost, one God blessed for evermore; and on 
motion of Mr. McKean (Journal, p. 12), as soon as he took 
his seat, after a short absence, the words, "I acknowledge 
the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments to be 
given by divine inspiration," w^ere unanimously added. 
They (Journal, pp. 21, 22), on petition of a tanner, dis- 
charge his apprentice, who had enlisted in Captain Dunn's 
company, of Colonel Patterson's battalion. Sat (p. 23) on 
Sunday, and order (p. 23) the signing of bills of credit, and 
restore (pp. 28, 29) forty persons who had risen in insur- 
rection in Sussex County, in the month of June, 1776, to 
the ftivor of their country, upon profession of their peni- 
tence, and promise of future obedience to the Assembly of 
Delaware and the Continental Congress. 

Among Mr. Read's papers I find a document in his hand- 
writing, indorsed '"Original Draft of the System of Gov- 
ernment of the Delaware State, with Amendments," which 
makes it certain that he framed this first Constitution of 
Delaware.''' These amendments are four in number,f one 

* In the "Life of Thomas McKean," page 19, volume iv. of the 
"Biog-raphy of the Signers of the Declaration of Independence," is this 
paragraph : 

"After the 'flying camp' was completed, the associators were dis- 



■j" In a different handwriting, probably that of the Secretary of the 
Convention, who might thus have easily furnished Mr. Head with a 
copy of the Constitution adopted. 



\ 



OF GEORGE READ. 187 



of them being the paragraph of Article 22, requiring all 
officers, before entering on the execution of their offices, to 
make and subscribe a declaration of their faith in the doc- 
trines of the trinity in, unity, and the divine inspiration of 
the Holy Scriptures* This constitution remained in force 



charged, and Mr. McKean returned to Philadelphia, when he resumed 
his seat in Congress, and signed the Declaration of Independence on 
parchment. P'itiding that he had been elected a member of the Con- 
vention for forming k constitution for the State of Delaware, he in two 
days departed for Dover, which he reached in one day. Immediately 
on his arrival, after a fatiguing ride, a committee of gentlemen waited 
on him, and requested that he would prepare a constitution for the 
future government of the State. To this he consented. He retired to his 
room in the tavern, sat up all the night, and having prepared it without 
book, or any assistance whatever, presented it, at ten o'clock the next 
morning, to the House, when it was unanimously adopted." 

This anecdote hardly needs formal refutation, its utter improbability 
is so patent. Mr. McKean, after a journey of nearly eighty miles, 
arrives at Dover, is solicited by a committee to prepare a constitution 
for Delaware, sets up all night, without aid from books or men frames 
it, and he, not the committee, presents it next morning to the House, 
when, that is the same morning, it was unanimously adopted, with a 
precipitancy unusual even in passing an ordinary Act of Assembly. He 
must have large credulity indeed wlio can believe that a body of men, 
selected for the grave trust of framing a fundamental law for a com- 
munity, could thus stultify themselves. 

In this fine specimen of glorification, ascribing even greater facility in 
constitution-making to Mr. McKean than that of Syeyes, who had his 
pigeon-holes always full of constitutions, there is not a word of truth, 
except that there was a convention which framed a constitution for 
Delaware in 1176, and he was a member of it. As has been already 
stated, this convention met, not at Dover, but New Castle. Messrs. 
Head and McKean were members of it; Mr. Read was unanimously 
elected its President; on the 7th September a committee was appointed 
to frame a constitution for the State of Delaware, of which both were 
members, and Mr. Read was chairman ; this committee reported a 
"Frame of Government" on the 13th, which was recommitted on the 
14th, again reported on the 18th, and having been del)atcd and amended 
until the 20th, was then approved. 

* Men associate for their common good, therefore, unless inhibited by 
constitutions, legislatures may enact any laws necessary in their judg- 
ment to secure it. I^eligion, in se, is no more excluded from their 
province than any other subject, but it seems to be especially within it, 
as its influence upon men's temporal affairs is great. On the question, 
"Is our voluntary system belter than an established church!"' much 
maybe urged on both sides of it, and " adhuc sub judice lis est." How- 
ever that the evils of the union of Church and State outweigh its 
benefits may be plausibly, at least, argued from the present state of the 
Church of England— her bishops nominated by time serving statesmen. 



188 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 

till 1792, when a new one was enacted and continued till 
1831, at which time the present constitution of the State 
of Delaw^are was adopted. The amendments to this consti- 
tution, proposed to the people of Delaware in 1853, were 
rejected by a very large majority. Of the constitutions 
adopted in 1776 by Delaware and her sister colonies it may 

be said 

" Facies non omnibus una, 
Nee di versa tamen ; qualem decet esse sororum." 

The greatest defect of this, the first constitution of Dela- 
ware, is the jDro vision of a cumbersome judiciary, fourteen 
judges for a State of three counties and thirty-seven thou- 
sand* inhabitants. They were lessened by the constitution 
of 1792, and reduced by that of 1831 to four common law 
judges and a chancellor, and the population of Delaware 
has, I believe, more than doubled since 1776. Another 
defect, common to the constitutions of that period, except 
those of New York and New Jersey ,-|- is the provision of a 
" Privy Council," controlling in most cases the executive 
power, and thus impairing its unity, clogging its action, and 
sometimes covering its faults. A court of chancery w^as 
not established by this constitution, nor by those of most of 
the other colonies, but chancery-powers were vested in the 
common law courts. This I think a defect.J 

her convocation striving, with what success remains to be seen, to re- 
cover the power of legislating' for her, wrongfully withheld, and her 
ritual and doctrinal controversies judged by laymen, it may be, not of 
her communion. But I do not doubt that the right conclusion as to 
i^eligious tests has been reached in the United States, because they 
would, if adopted, be oftener employed to maintain error than truth, 
and because education and freedom of speech and of the press are better 
guarantees for its supremacy than tests. 

* Compendium of U. S. Census, 18(i0, p. 39. As there was no gen- 
eral enumeration of the people of the United States before 1790, this 
estimate is conjectural, but may be accepted as at least approximating 
truth. 

t Federalist, No. 70. 

X The expense of this convention was three hundred and fifty-two 
pounds, fourteen shillings, and ninepence, which, to the amount of loans 
to the State in his hands, the President of the convention was directed 
to pay. 

I find among Mr. Read's papers the account of William Anderson for 
the boarding, etc. of the New Castle County members of the conven- 
tion, with his receipt for its amount from John Jones. There are 



OF GEORGE READ. 189 

Cfiesar Rodney writes to Mr. Read from 

"Philadelphia, September Itli, 17t6. 

" Sir, — Since I wrote last, three letters directed to you 
have come to my hands. I imagine they are from New 
York, and have sent them, with this, by the New Castle 
stage. 

" In my last letter to you I gave yon the substance of 
Sullivan's message and what I then thought would be the 
determination of Congress thereon; however, the matter, 
after three days' debate, has in some measure received a 
different determination. The Congress have refused send- 
ing any of their members to confer, as private gentlemen ; 
but with a view to satisfy some disturbed minds out of 
doors rather than expectation of its bringing about peace, 
they have appointed a committee of Congress to repair to 
New York, with powers to confer with Lord Howe, to know 
the extent of his powers and the terms he shall propose. 
General Sullivan was furnished with a copy of this resolu- 
tion, certified, and returned to Lord Howe yesterday. You 
will see by this that if Lord Howe receives the committee 
thus sent he acknowledges the Congress, and of course the 
independence of the States, which I am convinced he w^ill 
not do. Yet it may tend to convince the people at large 
that we are desirous of peace whenever it can be had upon 
those principles. 

" There is no material change in affairs at New York, 
except that a great part of our army are gone up to King's 
Bridge, among others the Delaware battalion, and that Cap- 
tain Wallace is gone up the East River with his ship. She 
was fired on by the for't, but not much, if any, hurt. She 
proceeded up till she got to a place called Blackwell's Island, 



charges every day in this account for wine-punch and toddy, and a 
large' one for slings and morning-bitters at sundry times, and at the 
bottom of the account of the receipt of John Silsbee, barber, for thirty- 
nine shillings. 

I was told by an aged lady, who died a few years ago, that when a 
girl she heard read a letter, in rhyme, from Francis Hopkinson, a signer 
of the Declaration of Independence, and author of the " Battle of the 
Kegs," in which he humorously describes citizens of the village, among 

them 

" Little John Silsbee, who hobbles about, 
And takes the best man in the town b}' the snout." 



190 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 

and anchored. Our people then, with two twelve-pounders, 
obliged her to slip her cable and get behind the island. 

"I am, sir, your most obedient, humble servant, 

"CAESAR Rodney. 

"P.S. — How goes on your Convention? 

" George Read, Esquire, New Castle." 

On the 13th of September General Rodney again writes 
to Mr. Read: 

"Philadelphia, September 13th, 1776. 

"Dear Sir, — The whole of your time must certainly be 
engaged in the affairs of the Convention or I should have 
heard from you more frequently. I have wrote you three 
letters since you went to New Castle, but whether you have 
received more than one of them I cannot say. However, 
this letter is a proof I am not discouraged as yet. 

"The people here have been for several days fully em- 
ployed in forming conjectures with respect to the conference 
between the commissioners of Congress and Lord Howe. 
They have been various : some, Lord Howe has full powers, 
and if we have not peace it is the fault of Congress; others, 
there is no doubt but they will finally settle matters, and 
the army be disbanded ; others again are cursed if they 
believe he has any powers at all. However, this business 
is put an end to by the return of the committee, who report 
that having sent a letter to Lord Howe, by express, to ac- 
quaint him of their coming, they proceeded to Amboy, 
where they arrived on Tuesday evening, and there the 
same evening received a letter from Lord Howe in answer 
to theirs, letting them know that he would meet them, on 
Wednesday, at a house on Staten Island, opposite Amboy, 
that his lordship the next day sent his boat for them, 
with a flag, and met them himself at the water-side, and 
in a very polite manner conducted them up to the house, 
where he had a dinner and plenty of good wine for them, 
and that after dinner they had a conference, which, with 
the time they were dining, was about three hours. Upon 
the whole, it seems his lordship has no power to make a 
peace, or even to order a cessation of arms; that he had a 
power to confer with any person or persons whatsoever to 
hear what they had to offer, and report to his Majesty, but 
that previous to anything else we must return to and ac- 



OF GEORGE READ. 191 

knowledge obedience to his Majesty. This being done, he 
did not doubt, on his representing matters home, but that 
the several acts of Parliament and instructions might and 
would be revised and many of our grievances removed. 
The whole proceedings of the committee, Sullivan's mes- 
sage, and everything ""relating to it, will be published on 
Monday or Tuesday. 

" One Mr. Duff, a young man, called on me for a commis- 
sion as a doctor's assistant in our battalion of the ' flying 
camp.' Should be glad you would let me know immediately 
when and how he w^as appointed, and whether he ought to 
have a commission. They are to march on Tuesday, if pos- 
sible, and if there be propriety in giving him a commission 
I could wish he had it, as it would be of great service in 
ease of his being a prisoner. 

" We have letters dated in July last, from our Connecticut 
friend* in Paris. There's a change of ministry in France; 
and he is the greatest man in the world expept Lord North, 
and has as great a levee as he has. This is a secret. 

"I don't recollect anything else worth communicating 
just now, except that I am, sir, 

" Your humble servant, 

"C-SSAR Rodney. 

"George Read, Esquire." 

Mr. Rodney makes known to Messrs. Rend and McKean 
the occupfttion of the city of New York by General Howe, 
and the bad behavior of the American troops posted to 
defend it, in a letter dated 

" PmLADELPniA, September 18th, 1176. 

" Gentlemen,— I have sent my servant to you with the 
following disagreeable intelligence. By letters from Gen- 
eral Washington to Congress we are informed that General 
Howe, with about six or seven thousand of his troops, took 
possession of New York on Sunday last. We are not so 
much astonished that he should get possession of New York 
(because we have expected it for some time past) as at the 
scandalous behavior of our troops that were placed to defend 
the post where the enemy landed, who ran away from their 



* Silas Deane. 



192 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 

lines and breastworks in a most dastardly manner, when not 
more than sixty [men] were landed to oppose them. You 
must know that the main body of the enemy have been for 
[some] time past on the Long Island side, opposite Harlem 
Creek or River, and had erected several batteries there that 
played on ours at Horn's Hook, on the New York land side 
of the Harlem. A part of the main body of the enemy 
had taken possession of Montresor's Island, situate at the 
mouth of Harlem, and [which] is divided from Morrisania 
on the east side of Harlem and Harlem Point, on the west 
side by a water not so wide as Schuylkill Ferry. At one 
or both these places it was expected they would attempt a 
landing. General Washington, therefore, fixed his head- 
quarters on the Heights of Harlem, as they are called, on 
the York Island side of the creek, and posted General 
Mifflin, with his brigade — consisting of Slice's, Macgaw's, 
Haslet's, and some other battalions — on the Heights of 
Morrisania. He had also placed troops on the heights near 
King's Bridge to support either the main army or Mifflin's 
detachment, as the case might require. The general, find- 
ing that two forty-gun ships, two frigates, and one twenty, 
had come up the East River and anchored opposite Turtle 
Bay (which is four miles above the city, and three miles 
or thereabouts below head-quarters), placed Brigadier-Gen- 
eral Parsons, with his brigade and some Connecticut militia 
(in the whole near three thousand), there to defend that post, 
at least till they could be supported by the main 'body or a 
detachment from it. General Putnam, with about three 
thousand, were left in the city to defend it in the best 
manner he could till the stores should be all removed, in 
which they had been employed for several days before, and 
would have completed in one more. From all I can collect, 
this was the situation of affairs on Sunday morning, when 
the ships before mentioned began a very heavy firing at 
Turtle Bay, to scour the country previous to their landing 
the troops, but hurt nobody that I can hear of. When the 
firing ceased, their troops began to land, and ours to run as 
if the devil was in them. In spite of all the general could 
do they never fired one gun. General Washington, having 
discovered the enemy's intention to land at that place, 
ordered a reinforcement, and set out there himself How- 
ever, before he got to the place he met our people running 



OF GEORGE BEAD. 193 

in every direction. He endeavored by persuasion and 
threats to get them back, but all to no purpose ; in short, 
they ran till they left the general to shift for himself. 
General Putnam, who was in New York with his people, 
hearinir what had happened, made the best of his way to 
head-quarters, lest he should be cooped up, fought his way 
through the enemy's lines, and brought his men to camp, 
with the loss of only three or four, as said. It seems not 
one of the men who ran from the place of the enemy's 
landing was from this side the North River,— all New Eng- 
land men. General Washington writes he is advantageously 
situated nt present, and if attacked should be more than a 
match for the enemy, if their numbers were even more 
than they are, provided his men would fight, which is more 
to be wished than expected. I have wrote on this subject 
till I am in an ill humor, and my only comfort is that by 
the time you have read my letter you will be as angry as I 

am. 

'•I have inclosed Mr. McKean's order on the trustees ot 
New Castle, thinking it might be wanting. 

"I am, gentlemen, your most obedient, humble servant, 

"Cesar Rodney. 

"P.S. — My boy will return to-morrow morning. 
"Messrs. Read and McKean." 

The grand army under General Washington being occu- 
pied in the defence of New York, the shore of New Jersey 
was open to the British, who might debark a large body of 
troops, and march them into the very heart of the middle 
colonies. Some measure of defence was necessary against 
this danger, and Congress, therefore, called upon New 
Jersey, Delaware, and Maryland to raise, equip, and march 
ten thousand men to form a "flying camp" in the middle 
colonies for their protection, and to serve till December 1st, 
1776. These troops were placed under the command of 
General Mercer.* The battalion furnished by Delaware 
was commanded by Colonel Samuel Patterson, who, in the 
course of this service, wrote letters to Mr. Read, which will 
be inserted in the order of their dates. 



* Marshall's Life of Washington, vol. ii. pp. 395, 396; Hildreth's 
History of the United States, vol. iii. 140, 141. 



194 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 

The first of these letters was written from 

"Philadelphia, September 19tli, 1776. 

"Sir, — This day I leave this city, thank God! Never 
man has been so uneasy. Yesterday five companies went 
off by water; Captain Latimer to-day; and what few re- 
main of Captain Woodgate's, yesterday about twelve o'clock 
had them all paraded to embark. The whole almost lay 
down their arms, [and] swore they would not go without a 
bounty such as others got in Pennsylvania. I told them 
such conduct I must treat in a proper manner if they did 
not take up their arms, [which] some did after awhile. I 
told them our counties were generous, and good behavior 
might do much, but on no other terms [could they expect 
the bounty], as they were not entitled to it. However, all 
would not do. At last I told them I would send to the 
* Play-House' for two battalions, there, to disarm them, 
and riiaking every soul prisoners. This had, with the other, 
good effects. I got them down to the wharf, fixed bayonets 
at the head of it, [and] sent them off. Captain Woodgate's 
arms not [being] done, [I] kept his company along with 
the others to go with me; but, to my astonishment, this 
morning [I learned] his whole company deserted in the 
night, but eleven men. Their officers are after them. Cap- 
tain Woodgate is sick in the 'barracks,' and not like to live; 
and about forty men, out of the different companies, left 
behind. 

"I hope you and all the friends of government will keep 
a strict lookout for all these rascals and others. 

"Yesterday evening [1] received Captain Mitcliell's letter 
as sent. I can leave no officer, but he must march up as 
fast as possible. Stores and blankets [are] at Hollings- 
worth's store for him, for forty men. I shall leave a letter 
for him. 

"The taking New York last Sunday has cast our people 
down nuich; but this morning an account is come, generally 
believed, that on Monday last the regulars went out to at- 
tack our people at a place called Bunker's Hill, when a 
bloody engagement ensued. The enemy had killed 3000, 
[and] 2000 taken prisoners. Our loss 1000 men, and the 
brave Putnam slain. Pray God it may be true. Our spirits 
are much raised again. 



OF GEORGE READ. 195 

" I shall give you a small opinion on battalion affairs. 
If ever you order one other, never sacrifice liberty to licen- 
tiousness by leaving the officers to be chosen as mine were. 
Had I known the men in general I would not [liave] went 
with them. Some few excessive good ; others, perhaps, 
another day may be brave — not at present. In ray opinion 
they had better [have] .staid at home. I hope I shall be 
able to go through this campaign. Nothing shall be wanting 
on my side. In haste, I am, sir, your real friend and humble 
servant, 

"Samuel Patxerson.* 

"To the Honorable George Read, Esquire, on public 
business, in Wilmington." 

Colonel Patterson wrote to Mr. Read from 

"New Brunswick, September 22d, 1716, 

"10 o'clock. 

" Sir, — I am to acquaint you that I am now setting off for 
Amboy, and all the companies [are] here, except Captain 
Woodgate's and Captain Mitchell's, for an account of which 
I refer you to my last. If the men who deserted are not 
found I should be glad you would take the remainder and 
officers under your notice and order them to join Captain 
Mitchell's company, if coming up, or discharge them, and 
not suffer them to pilfer the public money and all arms and 
accoutrements, if agreeable to your advisement. I expect 
no good from them; in general, rascals in principle they are. 

"At this place we have every hour news from New York 
and Paulus Hook about setting it on fire on Friday night. 
Just now a gentleman arrived [who] seems very intelligent. 
He says the regulars set it on fire in many places first, and 

* Samuel Patterson owned a lar^e grist-mill about one mile from 
Christiana Bridge, in New Castle Cpunty, Delaware, and carried on 
business as a miller there. The tomb over his remains in the Presby- 
terian burying-ground in the village of Christiana bears the following 
epitaph : 

"In memory of Samuel Patterson, Esquire, Colonel of the Regiment 
of the ' fl^n'ng camp' of Delaware, in the army of the United States of 
America, Brigadier-General of the Militia of the Delaware State, Con- 
tinental Loan Officer and Treasurer of the same ; [He] departed this 
life 27th May, 1785, aged 51 years; was a zealous friend of the Ameri- 
can Revolution, a firm patriot, a hospitable and an honest man." 



196 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 

at last in general by carrying fire in one hand and straw in 
the other, and that the Whig.s, when New York was taken, 
were confined in gaols and places so full that they could 
hold no more, dragged, and cruelly used. That the cit}^ is 
destroyed almost all in my opinion is without doubt, and by 
the regulars, although some, not with us, want to saj' we did 
it — absurd. 

"To-day I shall be at Amboy, with the companies with 
me. Our sick men are recruiting fast. 

"Captain Woodgate remained [in Philadelphia]; when 
I left him; [he] had but eleven men, and they mostly 
sick, himself like to die, and since have heard not a word 
about him. I heard nothing of Captain Mitchell's company 
when I left the city, or of him ; left accoutrements for forty 
men at Hollingsworth's store, which he is to look out and 
deliver to him. 

"A deserter from Howe said this day [there] was to be a 
general attack on General Washington. 

"In haste, I am, sir, your most humble servant, 

"Samuel Pattersgn". 

"My best respects to my general and all friends. Since 
[they] left Philadelphia the battalion is sorry for their mis- 
behavior. It was owing to a rascal telling them they were 
fools to go without their bounty. As I have no time to 
write more, please let my father know I am here and well. 

"S. P. 

"To the Honorable George Read, Esquire, in New Castle." 

Answered the 3d of October. 

The next letter is from Colonel Bedford from 

"Camp, near Head-quarters, October 1st, 1176. 
"Dear Sir, — By a letter received from Captain Read am 
informed you have not received any from me, which I am 
concerned for and amazed at, as I have wrote you three 
times since leaving Philadelphia: the first was on the morn- 
ing of the action on Long Island, just before I went over. 
I delivered it to my Cousin Gunning Bedford, who, I under- 
stood, went to Philadelphia two days after; once by the post; 
and the other, I think, by some gentleman who went from 
the Maryland camp. The chief part of our time, since 



OF GEORGE READ. 197 

leaving Long Island, have been encamped on the Heights 
of Morrisania, on the other side King's Bridge, a very re- 
mote place, — having very little opportunity of writing. I 
should be glad to use every opportunity to let you hear from 
me, especially if we had anything to communicate. Your 
intelligence must be better than lean give you as I suppose 
you frequently hear from the general. 

"The enemy's lines and ours are about two miles from 
each other. By information lately received, and which 
General Washington acquainted us with in orders, they are 
meditating something speedy, which has put us on our guard 
for these few nights past, the army parading and marching 
down to the lines two hours before day, and when the lines 
are completed (which they are very forward in) I think our 
situation will be a good one ; should the enemy attempt 
them, they must suffer greatly. 

"Our army in general is much reduced by sickness or 
something else, as our regiment appears equal to any two I 
have yet seen in the service, and we want seventy to com- 
plete us, and [there are] one hundred sick. Our army suf- 
fers much for many things, the sick especially, as there 
appears to be no medicines anywhere. I know it the case 
with our own regiment and many others. Upon the whole, 
I think it has been a hard campaign and a discouraging one. 
I have not been well since I came from Philadelphia till 
within these few days. I feel now better, though I have 
lost no duty. Colonel Haslet and the major are both un- 
well. The colonel is in the country, about five miles from 
here, and has been there these three weeks, which confines 
me to the camp; otherwise I think I should go to Philadel- 
phia shortly to provide some winter clothing for our people, 
and blankets, of which near two hundred are without. I 
have very seldom heard from any of my friends to the south- 
ward, which has made my time rather uneasy. I expect 
this will go safe to you, and shall hope to hear from you 
soon. In the mean time, with compliments to Mrs. Read, 
and love to the children, I am 

"Your affectionate brother, 

"Gunning Bedford. 

"To George Read, Esquire. 

"Favored by Captain Spenser." 



19 S LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 

Colonel Patterson writes to Mr. Read from 

" Head -QUARTERS, Amboy, October 4th, HTG. 

" Sir, — We are here at present, and I believe we shall 
continue here during this caTupaign, if the Hessians will 
not drive us out, who parade just before us every day, but 
by some accounts our general has received there are not 
more than about seven hundred men opposite to us, and on 
the island about fifteen hundred. I am sorry to say I don't 
think we have effective men here to turn out above one 
thousand in case of an attack. If fear does not take hold 
of us I think we can beat three thousand, owing to our 
situation. It is whispered these few days the Hessians in- 
tend to try for our good quarters, but from what point I 
cannot say. General Mercer is unwell with an intermit- 
tent. General Roberdeau [is] at Bergen; General Dickin- 
son gone home for a few days. The troops here live well, 
and in great plenty. As to myself, am happy, and in an 
elegant house, which I will fight for before I give it up. 

" Yesterday our lieutenant-colonel joined us, as also 
Captain Caldwell's company from Fort Constitution — mis- 
erable living there. The battalion is all here now, but 
what is coming up, deserters and Captain Mitchell's re- 
mainder. Now here, four hundred and sixty-one men, 
officers included. Two men dead — one in Captain Cald- 
well's, and one in Captain Manlove's. If I ever come cam- 
paigning again, I should never be for bringing up the 
men from below. They are not fit for fatigue, have no 
constitutions, and are always dissatisfied. Almost fifty 
or sixty of them every day sick and unfit for duty, and 
fond of desertion, as you have seen at Philadelphia; the 
forty who deserted there, were all out of the lower county 
troops. 

'' This you will receive by Colonel Latimer, who sets off 
this morning to join his regiment. In my opinion it will 
be of little service this campaign ; if it comes as militia, 
and the men do not sign their enlistments, they will only 
increase the confusion here, and injure subordination, as the 
militia has always done. Our general has nmch the same . 
opinion. The time of their service, if they turn out, must 
be short, as they will not be here before November. In 
short, the militia I have seen here are of no service — they 



OF GEORGE READ. 199 

eat up the colonies, and the day after they arrive here are 
ever wishing to be back. 

" I left at Philadelphia everything Captain Mitchell 
wanted, for forty men of accoutrements, but by some -fate 
he did not get my letter, and came up in want of all. I 
have supplied him here, and written to Mr. HoUingsworth 
to sell what was left with him. 

" I am, sir, your obedient servant, 

" Samuel Patterson. 

" Remember me to General McKinley, and all friends. 
Pray ask how old bachelor Morris is, in my name. 

" George Read, Esquire, Wilmington, favored by Colonel 
G. Latimer." 

Again Colonel Patterson writes to Mr. Read from 

"Perth Amboy, October 9th, 17t6. 

" Sir, — I received a letter from Mr. Rodney, dated Octo- 
ber 2d, wherein he says he received a letter from my 
quartermaster, Mr. Watson, wherein he complained he was 
not fit for the task. I must say I think so. Mr. Rodney's 
answer to me on that head was that he had a right to re- 
sign, and thinks it would be proper for me to accept [bis 
resignation], and as our States [Assembly] are not sitting, 
inclose it to the President of Congress, and they to commis- 
sion some other person, and I to name one. This I com- 
municated to Mr. Watson, and persuaded him to stay. He 
said he grew worse and could not perform. This morning 
he sets off from here for home. Inclosed is his commission, 
with notes that he has settled and paid off for all his trans- 
actions. The time is so short that it is hardly worth any 
person coming from your place to accept of the quarter- 
mastership. We have at present one George Purvis acting, 
till further orders. He was adjutant in Sussex, as he tells 
me, to General Dagvvorthy's battalion, and was a candidate 
for the adjutantcy in mine. 

" I now note the welcome receipt of your letter, per Major 
Duff. I am much obliged to you for the resolves of our 
Convention. 

" You will note Mr. Rodney said in his last, he was re- 
turning home from Congress very ill, and applied to me to 
get him a medicine for his eye, which I did ; it now comes 



200 LIFE AND COBRESPONDENGE 

per Mr. Watson: perhaps Mr. Watson may be tardy or sick 
on his way down, if so, please to forward it by a messenger 
on purpose; his anxiet}^ for it is great, and by accounts here 
it has in some instances done wonders in that way. Pray 
don't fail. 

" I have also, for your perusal, inclosed you a state[ment] 
of my battalion, as per returns from the different captains, 
and you will see by that the number of sick, but in fact I 
could add as many more, not fit to turn out to do business 
— mostly the lower companies. By this you will see we 
have room for your new battalion — men, without any addi- 
tional expense of officers ; however, I don't expect men nor 
battalion from your place. The [winter] season always makes 
men cold : were I there, I think I could convince you our 
patriotism ran too high to keep up, notwithstanding £7.10 
and one hundred acres of land in view, till the spring, and 
then hearts will be warm. We want no help here but 
what we have, for we frighten the Hessians everj^ week. 
They are erecting new works before our faces, for fear, on 
every corner where our boats can land, near us; some of 
them we had brought down from up the Raritan, in their 
sight. You cannot conceive how afraid they are at present, 
as they are by desertion weak, and have liot more than six 
hundred men in two small encampments opposite us. We 
have now here in camp, I suppose, four thousand men, and 
about one I am certain is about as many as could push a 
fierce bayonet. However, never fear us. A good general 
we have: every man loves him; his great tenderness and 
humanity have endeared him to all, — General Mercer. He 
has been sick with a tertian, at present is better. My re- 
spects to all friends. No general here but General M . 

" I am, sir, your most obedient servant, 

" Samuel Patterson. 

"Tell General McKinley I will not write till he does. 
Poor Captain Kain is in a very bad way with the dysentery, 
about six days [ill] ; am afraid he will not recover. A noble 
officer — as such he will be missed bv me." 

Colonel Bedford writes to Mr. Read from the 

"Camp near Head-quarters, October 10th, 1176. 
"Dear Sir, — When I wrote you last I informed you of 
my disappointment to hear you had not received any letters 
from me, as I had wrote you often. 



OF GEORGE READ 201 

"We were yesterday alarmed with the Roebuck, Phoenix, 
and Repulse men-of-war pnssing us up the North River. 
They did it without receiving much damage that we could 
know of. We had no person hurt, or any damage done. 
It is reported they have taken two of our galleys up the 
river about two miles from this, but I have no certainty of 
this. I am now convinced men-of-war can pass any place 
with fair wind and tide. Lord Sterling has returned from 
captivity, and our brigade he has again taken charge of, as 
General Mifflin is to do quartermaster-general's duty, and 
no other. We are in much the same situation as when I 
wrote you last. We are strengthening our lines, — the 
enemy are also busy with theirs. Our duty continues hard, 
having the lines to man every morning before day, and 
they are a mile and a half from here, and [we have] a 
great deal of other duty. I am sorry to inform you that 
many of our men have deserted to the enemy, though none 
from our regiment. Many from the York regiment, and a 
few from Colonel Shee's that was, and Magaw's. We have 
had none from the enemy till within these few days. The 
day before yesterday I had the advanced guard on the 
North River, when two of the enemy's soldiers came over 
to me. There seems no probability that the Hessians will. 
The deserters say the enemy are apprehensive of an attack 
from us. They all, likewise, say they are healthy, and 
their army strong, — above thirty thousand. The day before 
yesterday two brigades of the enemy went over to Long 
Island. Our army is very sickly yet. We have one hun- 
dred and forty of our regiment unfit for duty. We have 
neither hospitals nor medicines for them, which makes them 
suffer much. I am glad to hear of General Thompson's 
return, — if you see him, remember me to him. Colonel 
Haslet and our major are both well. I am likewise so, and 
have been for some time. Colonel Haslet is not yet come 
to camp: he continues in the country. My duty has been 
something the harder for it. I have some expectation of 
going down before a long time, if it is admissible. I want 
to see you much. I have no news to acquaint you of Our 
army seems in good, spirits, and we think our lines are 
secure, if they should be attempted. You will please give 

14 



202 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 

my compliments to Mrs. Read, and all friends. I am j^our 
affectionate brother, 

"G. Bedford. 
"George Read, Esquire." 

The next letter of Colonel Patterson to Mr. Read is 
from 

"Head-quarters, October 12th, 177fi. 

"Dear Sir, — Your kind favor [is] received by Captain 
Rumford, and [I] note its contents for answer. This morn- 
ing there is a surprising change here; perhaps occasioned 
by General Lee's arrival here last evening. This I leave 
to the world's wise conjectures, as many such prophecies 
have lately been. 

" This morning [there] is not a Hessian in sight of us. 
They had two encampments right opposite us, and sentries 
opposite our lines two miles long. Last night they struck 
[their] tents, and carts and wagons they had employed all 
night; also a ship of sixteen guns lay before my door, which 
skulked after them in the dark, and I do suppose the whole 
are marched for the southeast end of the island, there to 
cross or embark to assist General Howe in some place, for 
by some accounts the British army is not very strong, as 
we had imagined, as was stated in a letter to General Mer- 
cer, which I saw about six days ago. I wrote you the 
other day, per Hugh McCorachen, of Christiana, with a 
letter and small bundle of medicine for Mr. Rodney for his 
eye. Do forward it by a special [messenger] if he has gone 
home. I shall send him more, to your care, to-morrow 
without fail. 

"I will write you, per every opportunity, any further 
movements of the enemy. 

''As to the new battalion, [I] am not very sorry to hear 
it will not come out this blessed year. You mention Colo- 
nel Latimer's not receiving your letter. He did about six 
miles from this. His carrying off the drummer w^as not, 
in my opinion, genteel; and, in fact, his coming up and 
going down was to me extraordinary, and he had like to have 
broken up his company with his fair promises. Three 
deserted that night, but followed by a good sergeant, who 
secured them, and brought them back. His men would 
hardly serve under him if he was reappointed. Major 



OF GEORGE READ. 203 

Duff now waits for this letter; I cannot say much more. 
My respects to all friends. 

"I am, sir, your most obedient servant, 

"Samuel Patterson. 

" I am glad to tell you Captain Kain is recovering and 
out of danger. — S. P. 

"To the Honorable George Read, Esquire. Favored by 
Major Duff." 

Colonel Patterson writes to Mr. Read from 

"Head-quarters, October 13th, 1116. 

" SiR^ — This you will receive per Doctor Duff, with a 
paper bundle for Mr. Rodney, for his eye; the same as 
some sent before, and to be used in the same way. You 
will please to forward it per the first safe hand. 

"I wrote you yesterday, per Major Duff, of the Hessians 
evacuating Staten Island. Yesterday our people passed 
and repassed all about. Not a Hessian on the island. Many 
persons have also come over. As to the number of the Hes- 
sians none agree. They are gone over to Long Island; some 
say fifteen hundred men, some say four thousand; but there 
was no large body [of them] together. The inhabitants 
say they in general behaved well to them, and swore them 
to George. As a badge such wear \yhite crosses on their 
breast. We used to see many of them, but did not know 
their order before. We cannot see any now of them, nor, 
I hope, will soon. In the two camps before us, they were 
so afraid of our coming over that horses were always in 
harness, and for their guns also, these two weeks past. We 
never could get any account of their number before, with 
all our art, so well did they watch the island. In haste, [ 
am, dear sir, your most obedient, humble servant, 

" Samuel Patterson. 

"I wish they had staid here, for Fort Constitution I 
don't like. I am happy here. General Lee staid only one 
night here, — is gone to head -quarters, with spades, etc. 
^S. P." 

Colonel Patterson further informs Mr. Read of the opera- 
tions of the "flying camp" in his next letter from 



204 LIFE AND COBRESPONDENCE 

"Head-quarters, Amboy, October 17tl), lit 6. 

"Dear Sir, — I have now just time to write you a few 
lines, which I should have done before, only for this reason : 
just as I returned from our excursion to Staten Island, [I] 
was ordered with my battalion to march to Fort Constitu- 
tion, to join General Washington, but now have got a re- 
prieve from, as it were, death. Our general has sent others 
in our room, owing to our battalion's being very sickly. 
Now [I] am likely to have my good quarters yet till we 
retreat. 

"I shall now give you a small sketch of our affair to clear 
Staten Island, in the order [in which] it was conducted; 
and as to our success, we sent you a sample of the Hessians 
down and regulars — in all seventeen prisoners. 

"On the 14th, in the evening, General Mercer ordered 
part of four battalions to be ready (mine all) to march and 
go on board boats at eight o'clock that evening. We did, 
in the whole about six hundred men, with two pieces of 
brass artillery. We crossed all about ten o'clock at night, 
in order to attack a small fort at the east end of that 
island, at the watering-place, and to be there by break of 
day, — seventeen miles, our battalion in front, — and to march 
there on all occasions. We had with us General Mercer 
and General Green. When we got two miles on, an ex- 
press followed us for Generals Mercer and Green to attend 
a council of war of General Washington's in the morning. 
On this we had liked to have returned. General Green did. 
At the same time was informed by the country people that 
the fort was reinforced the day before by the arrival of 
fresh troops from England, Hessians, to about twelve hun- 
dred men. This put us to a stand; then sent our artillery 
back on consultation. Not far off we heard there were 
about two hundred and fifty soldiers, as they said, at the 
town of Richmond. We then agreed to pick them up. 
General Mercer ordered us to divide, and sent my battalion, 
with Colonel Griffin and myself, with two rifle companies, 
to march about a mile below the town, by a route of near 
five miles, to accomplish it, and to lay about there till near 
break of day, to cut off their retreat between that place 
and the main fort, about six miles [distant]. [This] we 
did, and a dark march we had. 

"About break of dtiy we arrived. General Mercer's plan 



OF GEORGE READ. 205 

was— he to attack, with his party, in three phaces, and we 
to be ready at the same time in the other quarters. Colonel 
Griffin was too eager. He ordered my battalion to attack 
as soon as it came up. At this time the others had not a 
man arrived. This then was dawn of day. We began at 
it as hard as we could blaze. The few enemy there were 
ready at a church and a corner of the street near there.^ 
We should not have begun so soon, but came near one of 
their sentries, who fired at our advanced flanking-party, 
[commanded by] Captain Rumford, which brought us all to 
work, and not being light, had liked to have shot our own 
people. It lasted about one hour in attacking parties of 
the regulars that ran up the hill, and made a small stand 
in the cedars, and then ran off. We killed five of theirs, 
and [had] two of ours killed, and three or four wounded. 
One of the killed was of my battalion. Colonel Griffin got 
wounded in the first fire in the heel. [He is] now in a 
good way. I then had the command. About half an hour 
after the first attack the general came up, amidst smoke, 
and escaped narrowly from being fired on by our own 
people, as it was not light [enough] to know him. He is a 
hero, and as cool in his plans as a philosopher. I love him. 
We nearly catched Courtlandt Skinner,* the villain (he has 
raised a company of Tories) , but the cedars hid him. I was 
in his room where he has lived for some time.^ You would 
not give five pounds for it, and a poor bed to lie on.^ Ships 

numbers in sight at the Hook— just arrived. This letter 

you will excuse not coming sooner. 

" I am, sir, your real friend, 

" Samuel Patterson. 

" Honorable George Read, Esq." 

We are now approaching the darkest period of the Ameri- 
can Revolution, when reverses were followed by reverses till 
all seemed lost. Mr. Rodney expresses in the following letter 
his feelings, which were those of all true patriots, at this 

* Soon after the battle of Brooklyn, Oliver Delancj, the captor of 
Woodhull, brother of a former Governor of New York, and Courtlandt 
Skinner, late Attorney-General of New Jersey, and Speaker of the As- 
sembly, were commissioned as brigadiers, with authority to raise four 
bittalions each, to be commanded by Tryon as Major-General— i/t/- 
dreth'^ History of the United States, vol. iii. p. 153. ^ 



206 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 

dark hour; he is indignant at the base men who thought 
only of coining gold out of the public distress; he is sad, 
but not despondent or despairing, and counsels not the 
seeking safety for himself or friends, but more strenuous 
efforts to save his country and more earnest thought for 
means to that noble end : 

"Dover, October 25th, m6. 

"Sir, — Since I came to Kent I have purchased and paid 
for coarse cloths to the amount of near two hundred pounds. 
They come very dear; but what is worse, I have little or 
no expectation that many more can be got. The shops 
throughout this county seem to be entirely drained. Part 
of those I have are home-made. Be pleased to let me know 
whether you would propose that the House should take 
such order in the matter as to enable me to raise an account 
against this State for these articles procured for the Dela- 
ware battalion, or whether I must look elsewhere to be re- 
imbursed. Dear as the cloths are they will now sell for 
considerably more than I gave. 

"The last papers announce the almost total defeat of our 
fleet, under General Arnold.* Though I greatly feel for the 
loss the continent hath sustained and the many disadvan- 
tages we may have to labor under in consequence of it, yet 
I cannot but be much pleased with [the] behavior of that 
brave officer and his men. They are certainly a parcel of 
fine fellows, and will, while they show such braverj^ con- 
vince their opponents that America is not to be subdued 
but by Americans, Yet the uneasiness and discontent which 
too generally prevail among the common people, partly oc- 
casioned by the scarcity and intolerable prices of necessary 
articles, is much to be lamented, as it tends more to the in- 
jury of the cause than anything I know. The disaffected, 
by painting the distresses of the people in strong colors, will 
create such a general discontent as that I fear the more un- 
thinking among those will, in a little time, wish to submit, 
even at discretion, rather than contend. For this approach- 
ing evil we must find a remedy. Government must exert 
itself. But what can government do with those persons 
who are base enough to ingross these necessaries of life, in 
a time of general distress, when every nerve should be 

* On Lake Champlain, 4tb and 12th of October, 11 TG. 



OF GEORGE READ. 207 

strained in the prosecution of the cause, with a desire to 
accumulate fortunes, even at the expense of their dearest 
rights and privileges? To submit now is undoubtedly to be 
slaves. However, I know you have turned your thoughts 
for a considprable time past to these things, and your more 
fruitful invention will contrive, if possible, a remedy. 

" I received a letter from Colonel Patterson a few days 
ago. No news, but says Watson, the quartermaster, has, 
as all quartermasters do, discovered a profit in the business, 
and therefore intends to continue in the service. 

"With my compliments to Mrs. Read, I am, sir, your 
sincere friend and humble servant, 

"C^sAR Rodney. 

" To the Honorable George Read, Esquire, at Wilming- 
ton, per Mr. Garmant." 

After the evacuation of New York the British were posted 
on York Island, — their right upon Horen's Hook, on the 
East River, and their left on the North River, near Bloom- 
ingdale, the distance between these points being about two 
miles. Skirmishes took place, in one of which the Ameri- 
cans behaved well, so recovering character and restoring, 
somewhat, confidence. The American army was so advan- 
tageously posted — ten thousand at King's Bridge, which 
was strongly fortified, and six thousand on Harlem Heights, 
nearer New York — that General Howe would not risk an 
attack upon it from New York, but determined to gain 
their rear by moving his troops behind King's Bridge, and 
for this object, embarking them in flat-boats, landed at 
Frog's Neck, on the east of the Sound. While the British 
commander-in-chief remained there a short time, awaiting 
reinforcements, guns, and stores, a council of war to counter- 
act his plan of shutting up the American army in the island, 
and forcing it to give battle on unfavorable terms or sur- 
render, recommended that its position should be changed 
by extending its front or left up the North River towards 
the White Plains, beyond the enemy's right. The Ameri- 
can army was accordingly disposed, having quitted York 
Island. Its right or rear division remained a few days in 
the vicinity of King's Bridge to cover the baggage, which 
could not be quickly removed for want of wagons. General 
Howe's reinforcements having been landed at Pell's Point, 



208 LIFE AND C0RRE8P0NDENGE 

where, with his army, he united with them, he, October 
18th, advanced, but with very great caution. On the 21st 
he was posted at New Rociielle, and General Washington 
on the high grounds between it and the North River. The 
British, reinforced by Knyphausen's division .from New 
Rochelle, moved, as did the Americans, toward White 
Plains, where a large camp was marked out and where was 
posted a detachment of militia, the ground being strong. 
General Washington, by degrees calling in his outposts, 
occupied, October 25th, the high grounds east of the river 
Brunx, where, on the 26th, Lee joined him with the rear 
division. ^'On the 28th the American army was encamped 
on a long ridge of hills on which they had hastily con- 
structed lines. A bend of the Brunx protected the right 
flank, and another turning secured the right wing. The 
left wing was posted on uneven ground, steep and rugged 
in front, but affording a secure retreat in the rear. The 
most accessible part was the centre, the slope of the hill 
being there gradual, the lines not fraised, and the ditches, 
from the rockiness of the soil, shallow."* General McDou- 
gal, with sixteen hundred men, chiefly militia, was posted 
upon a hill, to the right of the American troops, distant 
about a mile from them, on the west of the Brunx, to cover 
their right flank. On the 28th, at an early hour, the British 
advanced upon the American lines. Having driven in their 
outposts, a cannonade was begun at ten o'clock and kept up 
by both for some time with little or none effect. Howe 
then determined to occupy the hill, where McDougal was 
posted, and attacked it, with Lesly's brigade and Donop's 
grenadiers, on the right flank and in front, the Brunx being 
passable with ease. The militia fled, but the regulars, 
Smallwood's Marylanders and Reitzemar's New Yorkers, 
bravely advanced to meet the enemy, but were compelled 
by superior numbers to retreat. The residue of McDougafs 
force, consisting of his brigade, the Delaware battalion, and 
a small regiment of Connecticut militia, were driven from 
the hill, but for some time kept up an irregular contest from 
behind the stone walls which divided the adjacent fields. 
The Americans lost between three and four hundred in 
killed, wounded, and prisoners. The day was so far spent 

* Bissett's Reign of George III., vol. i. p. 404. 



OJ^ GEORGE READ. 209 

in taking the hill that the assault on the American camp 
was deferred till October 29th, and General Washington 
having strengthened his intrenchments and drawn back his 
right to stronger ground, it was further postponed to the 
30th, when reinforcements, under Lord Percy, arrived; but 
rain then prevented the attacl^ and, on November 1st, 
Washington, fearing that the loss of the hill taken from 
McDougal would enable the British to gain his rear, with- 
drew to North Castle Heights, distant five miles. The 
foreo-oing summary of events from the evacuation of New 
York to the 1st of November, 1776, seemed to me a neces- 
sary preface to the following letter of Colonel Bedford to 
Mr. Read from 

" Camp about five miles from White Plains, 

"November 2d, 17V6. 

"Dear Sir,— I have just received your letter, per Cap- 
tain Dean, with the paper inclosed, for which am much 
obliged. 

" Since our leaving York Island have been m perpetual 
motion. The enemy moving has caused our regiment to do 
so also. I have now slept five nights without a tent or any- 
thing but the ground to lay on, and not a blanket to coyer 
us, our baggage being ten miles from us, and our station 
being advanced toward the enemy, which is always our 
case. I have very little conveniency of writing at present, 
being obliged to sit on the ground and use the backs of letters.* 
I would inform you of the occurrences lately^. About ten 
days since Colonel Haslet, Major Green, of tlie Virginians, 
and myself were ordered, with six hundred men, to march 
and attack Colonel Rogersf (the famous Major Rogers for- 

* On the back of this letter is written " Lieutenant-Colonel Bedford, 
of the Delaware Battalion, near New York, per Captain Dean." 

t Robert Rogers, born in New Hampshire, was a distinguished par- 
tisan officer in the war with France which issued in the loss to her of 
Canada. His exploits and escapes at the head of his " Rangers" were 
as daring and romantic as those of Stark and Putnam. When the 
Revolution commenced, he was, or pretended for a time to be, neutral, 
but in 1775 was in Carleton's pay as a spy. In 1776 he was in New 
York, and being suspected was arrested, but set free by Congress, upon 
his written engagement " on the honor of a gentleman" not to serve 
a"-ainst the United States while the war continued with Great Britain. 
B"ut he immediately after violated this pledge, entered the British ser- 
vice, received the commission of colonel, raised a corps of Tones, and 



210 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 

merly) and his regiment, which was supposed to be about 
three Imndred strong, or his outguard. Accordingly we 
proceeded ; but instead of meeting with his main body our 
guides brought us (it was eleven o'clock at night) on their 
picket-guard, consisting of seventy men, thirty-six of whom 
we brought off, and about fift}^ muskets and as many blan- 
kets; the rest, I believe, were chiefly slain, as several de- 
serters from that corps (they are called Royal Rangers) say 
but two escaped. We had two men killed. Major Green, 
who had the chief merit on that occasion, and made the 
first attack, with one hundred and fifty men, was wounded 
through the shoulder near the socket, but hope he will re- 
cover, and six or seven men wounded. The place we 
attacked was about ten miles from our camp, and called 
' Mamaraneck.' Instead of three hundred we afterwards 
learned they had six hundred, and fled on the alarm.* 

" Last Monday the enemy advanced on our lines on the 
' White Plains.' Our regiment was ordered to reinforce 
General McDougal's brigade, who occupied an advantageous 
hill. The enemy soon made preparations to gain it, and 
at last succeeded, after our defending it in the best manner 
we could with our small number, in comparison of the 
enemy, and a large train of artillery. They cannonaded 
us with their whole force, which, I suppose, was as great 
as any ever brought out, which forced a retreat. Our regi- 
ment lost about fifteen killed and as many wounded. Cap- 
tain Adams, of our regiment, we fear is killed, as he is 
missing. We*had an ensign. Hazard, shot through the arm, 
[and which is] broke [n]. Captain Caldwell is slightly 
wounded in the wrist, and myself in the arm, but am now 
quite well of it, as is Caldwell. The night before last our 
lines at White Plains were evacuated, and yesterday the 
enemy took possession. We are about five miles from them, 
and expect them here next, probably to-morrow. You men- 
tion the new appointment of officers in this battalion. I 
wish to see you, but at present can only inform you I mean 
to decline serving any longer if you think well of it. I 

at their head was now serving against his countrymen, who, while they 
dreaded tlio courage, enterprise, and resources of this renowned partisan, 
hated him intensely as an apostate and despised him for his breach of 
parole. 

* Marshall's Life of Washington, vol. ii. pp. 500, 501. 



OF OEOROE READ. 211 

believe too many of our officers will also [decline serving:], 
as they generally talk of it. You will do as you think best. 
For my part I am tired of the service. We have just re- 
ceived orders wlulc I am writing this to fortify this post. 
There is only Lord Sterling's brigade here. We are on the 
right of the whole army, and 'tis supposed the enemy mean 
to surround us, which must be done by forcing their way 
on our right. I must conclude, with my compliments to 
all friends. 

" Your affectionate brother, 

" G. Bedford. 
" George Read, Esq." 

Colonel Patterson gives Mr. Read further information of 
the state of his battalion, asks his opinion upon a point it 
was difficult to decide, and makes some useful suggestions 
in his next letter, dated 

" Head-quarters, Perth Amboy, November 4th, 1776. 

" Dear Sir, — I have wrote you two letters lately, [and] 
as yet [have received] no answer. This comes by the 
Reverend Mr. Eakin, who is now going home, by leave, 
not to return. He has been an honor to your appointment. 
As to news here, [there is] none material. Our battalion 
is half [of] the garrison, and by some late accounts our 
enemy are numerous on Staten Island. General Mercer at 
present [is] supposed to be at head-quarters. My battalion 
is somewhat mending, and this day and yesterday [I] dis- 
charged about thirty men — invalids, supposed not to be 
able to do duty our time, at their own request, and perhaps 
soon sixty more [will be discharged]. Their clothing ex- 
cessive thin. [It is] now here very cold. No likelihood of 
[things] mending here. By deaths and discharges have 
many arras. [I] have ordered chests to be made [for them], 
and shall send them down to Messrs. Rollings worths' store, 
under guard, to lie there until your further orders, or I re- 
turn with an inventory if approved of. In discharging the 
men [1] am much at a loss how to act — whether to pay 
them from the day of enlistment or not. Some have done 
one way, some the other, as the captains say they had some 
assurance. I well know the orders, but think it hard they 
should not be paid from the date. Your answer to this 



212 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 

point I want much, [as I wish] to do justice to all, but 
those sick would give all up to be discharged, and more. 

" Another affair comes under my notice, but shall only 
touch slightly on it, and [it] has been hinted to me also 
[by other persons] that think as the Delaware State is to 
furnish a quota of troops at the expiration of our time, 
whether it would not be proper for you to send some orders 
to recruit [the discharged soldiers] at £7.10 in cash to each 
man, and perhaps some scheme might be adopted to make 
one battalion out of both ; there is a difficulty, as one's 
[term of service] is out a month sooner than the other, — 
and officers hard to determine. This to your better judg- 
ment. 

'' I am sorry to inform you Colonel Bedford got wounded 
in a late engagement. 1 am told [the wound] is slight. 

"The [enemy] advance on us, but very slow[ly] yet. 
The sending up troops for the ' flying camp' is absurd. As 
such some arrived to-day from Maryland to stay to Decem- 
ber, unarmed. No arms here. 

" My best compliments to all my friends. I am, dear 
sir, your most obedient servant, 

" Samuel Patterson. 

" I have some noble officers in my battalion I could re- 
commend if a door open. — S. P. 

" Honorable George Read, favored by Rev. Mr. Eakin." 

A false report, but not without foundation, that Congress 
had ordered troops to Lewistown, no application for them 
having been made by the President or Legislature of Dela- 
ware, then in session, occasioned the following letters of 
Mr. Read and Robert Morris : 

"New Castle, 5th November, 1776. 
"Sir, — A report prevails here, this morning, that Con- 
gress have ordered four companies of one of the Virginia 
battalions to Lewistown, on some intelligence supposed to 
have been transmitted by Henry Fisher to the Council 
of Safety of your Province. Upon inquiry I find that Mr. 
Rush, Secretary to the President, told the under-sheriff of 
this county so yesterday morning. I must own I can with 
difficulty believe that Congress would take a step of this 
kind, upon any application other than from the legislative 



OF GEORGE HEAD. 213 

or executive bodies of this State, especially ns the Congress 
must know that the General Assembly is now sitting at 
New Castle, who, it is to be presumed, are the best judges 
of the necessity or propriety of such a measure; but if such 
is the fact, take the most speedy way to prevent its being 
carried into execution, otherwise it may be attended with 
bad consequences, as I well know the Legislature of this 
State will look upon it as an ill-timed interference with 
their internal afftiirs. As to Harry Fisher, he may be quali- 
fied for the post assigned him by your Council of Safety, 
and they may give him what credit they think fit in that 
line, but they ought to be careful of giving credit to his 
intelligence of the political conduct or sentiments of the 
people of Sussex or any other county in this government. 
More injury to the common cause was done by sending 
down the rille battalion of your province last summer than 
most people are aware of. I would not have it increased 
by a repetition of insult. Let me hear from you hy the 
messenger, who is sent for the purpose, and you will oblige 
yours, etc., 

"George Read. 
'• To the Honorable Robert Morris, Philadelphia." 

It is evident from Mr. Read's letter that these troops 
w^ere to be sent to overawe citizens of Sussex disaffected to 
Congress. I am, therefore, not surprised at the indignation 
excited by the report that troops were to be ordered there 
for such purpose, upon the representation merely of an 
individual. 

Mr. Morris replied promptly to Mr. Read's letter: 

"Philadelphia, November 6th, 1776. 

"Dear Sir, — You will not wonder that I should be 
obliged to answer your favor of the 5th instant in a great 
hurry, after detaining the bearer some time before I could 
even sit down to write. 

"It seems there is some foundation for the report you 
heard, although not strictly true. I was not in Congress 
when Dr. Rush brought the account from the Council of 
Safety, but am told, he moved for some Continental troops 
being ordered down, which was opposed by several members 
upon the very principles you would wish, and finally the 



214 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 

motion was rejected; but as a Virginia regiment was ordered 
up from the Eastern Shore, they were directed to halt at 
Dover for the further orders of Congress, on the supposition 
that your government would apply for them if they should 
think it necessary. 

"This I believe to be the true state of facts, and as my 
sentiments are totally with you, I am ready to obey your 
commands, or do anything you desire, if in my power; 
being very sincerely, dear sir, your obedient servant, 

"Robert Morris. 

"To the Honorable George Read, Esquire, New Castle." 

The next letter in the order of their dates, I find among 
Mr. Read's papers, is from General Rodney. 

"November ITth, 1^6. 

"Sir, — At the request of the members of the Council 
and Assembly, delivered me by Mr. Collins, I sent, to the 
care of Thomas McKean, Esq., in Philadelphia, by John 
Palmer, shallopman, sixty blankets, and all the cloths of 
any kind whatsoever that I could procure here suitable for 
the Delaware battalion. They were packed in hogsheads, 
and accompanied with a letter to Mr. McKean. But as 
the collectors of those articles had not made me their re- 
turns in proper order, [I] could not send him the invoice 
and account of them. 1 have now inclosed you a general 
account of them, and the charges thereon, all of which I 
have presently charged to this State, as directed by Mr. 
Collins. 

"On Monday, the 4tli of this month, one George Gibson 
(who says he is a captain in the First Virginia Regiment, 
was sent by the State of Virginia and General Lee on an 
expedition to New Orleans, and was passing through here 
with letters from the Governor of that place to Congress) 
applied to me to assist him with horses, and a small matter 
of cash. I procured horses to send him part of the way, 
let him have six pounds, — which was all he asked, — and 
have inclosed you his receipt for it.* As the money was 

* Inclosed in Mr. Rodney's letter is the following note: 
" Captain Gibson presents his compliments to General Rodney. 
When he applied to him for horses, for prosecuting his journey towards 
head-quarters, he forgot to request the favor of an article of equal ini- 



OF OEOIiOE READ. 215 

advanced for the public service, [1] should be obliged to 
you to m-ocure it again for me. Before I let him have the 
money he showed me his credentials, signed by Mr. Pendle- 
ton, and many other gentlemen of note, in Virginia. Yes- 
terday and the day before I received two letters from 
General McKinley, by express, with copies of other letters 
inclosed, informing that a great number of vessels had sailed 
from New York, [and] that it was expected they intended 
up Delaw^are to pay Philadelphia a visit. On the receipt 
of this piece of intelligence, I immediately issued and sent 
orders to all the field-officers in this and Sussex County, to 
see that their several battalions were immediately prepared, 
with their arms, accoutrements, etc., [to move] when and 
where they should receive orders for that purpose. This I 
did in discharge of my duty as commanding officer; but, 
between you and I, I no more believe they are coming, at 
this season of the year, to attack Philadelphia than I be- 
lieve they intend besieging the moon. I am much pleased 
to find, by the postscript of Mr. Hancock's letter, that 
General Carleton, with all his forces, has retreated. When- 
ever you have anything, either public or private, worth 
while and proper to communicate to me, and be fortunate 
enough to steer clear of those violent lazy fits that some- 
times' seize you, [I] should be much obliged to you to let me 
have it. I am, sir, with much respect, your most obedient, 

humble servant, 

"CiESAR Rodney. 

*• George Read, Esquire." 

Mr. Read was invoked to exert his influence to induce 
the immediate march of volunteers from Delaware to aid 
in the defence of Philadelphia against the apprehended 
attack of the British, by Messrs. Wilson, Clyraer, and Chase 
in their letter, dated 



portance— ca.s/i. Would it be convenient for General Rodney to let 
him have about five or six pounds, Continental currency ? If it would, 
he will esteem it a particular favor, and a very essential one. 

"Monday, Novonibcr, 1776. 

"Received of General Rodney six pounds Continental currency. 

" George Gibson, 
"Captain, First Virginia Regiment, on particular commission." 



216 LIFE AND COBRESPONDENCE 

"Philadelphia, November 25th, 177 6. 
"Sir, — The inclosed resolutions* will inform yq\x of the 
steps adopted in this State for the immediate reinforcement 
of the ai;my under the command of General Washington. 
We wish for assistance from the State of Delaware, and 
cannot doubt their alacrity in furnishing every aid in their 
power in this hour of common danger. 

"We know not to whom our application ought to be 
made, but we earnestly entreat your influence and exertions 
with the proper authority of your State to send a speedy 
assistance of five hundred' volunteers, if possible, on the 
same terms and times of service with the volunteers from 
this State. 

"V*''e are, sir, with great regard, your obedient, humble 
servants, 

"James Wilson, 
"George Clymer, 
"Samuel Chase. 
"Honorable George Eead, Esquire, New Castle." 

The letter I next present to the reader is the last of 
Samuel Patterson's letters, written to Mr. Read during his 
service with the "flying camp." He was, as I judge him 
by his letters, a spirited and brave officer, an ardent Whig 
of respectable abilities, and limited education, and of quick 
temper. 

"Brunswick, November 30th, 1776. 

"Dear Sir, — Yesterday morning I had orders from Lord 
Sterling to evacuate my post at Amboy with the troops 
there — about five hundred men — and the remainder of the 
stores, cattle, etc., and to join him about three miles off. 
This I did by sunrise, and then proceeded, with the main 
body, to Brunswick, where we arrived about two o'clock — 
in the whole about nine thousand men, with a good train. 
But this place is miserably dirty — no entertainment. Many 
of our men lay out without even tents — most distressing to 
the campaign and future success of recruiting. Our men 
[are] many of them sick, [with] hardly a place to put their 
heads in. Here are Generals Washington, Putnam, Mercer, 
Green, Stevens, and Beal, with their brigades. General 

* Published in all the newspapers. 



OF GEORGE READ. 217 

Washington has wanted the * flying camp' to stay two 
weeks, but such proposal will not do with any. T do not 
much wonder at this, as [the men are almost naked, with] 
no place many times to put their heads in. We must do 
better for the future, or give up our army. 

"As to General Howe, [by] last accounts he was at Eliza- 
bethtown, and that yesterday. This day I think he will 
be at Amboy, and, if you will have my opinion, I don't 
think he will advance farther this winter, as the rains pre- 
vent him now and [the] badness of roads. If [he should 
have] good weather, it is my opinion he will not go any 
way towards Philadelphia, but through [the] Jerseys, which 
there is nothing to hinder him [from doing,] and [if he have 
also] good roads. Was I in Philadelphia, and an inhab- 
itant, I should remain, in my opinioli, secure this winter. 
Colonel Bedford is here, very poorly, but I think mending; 
[his disease] is pleurisy. I shall set oflf in the morning for 
your city. 

"I am, in haste, yours, etc., 

"Samuel Patterson. 

"As to General Lee, [there is] no certainty, but suppose 
he is coming this Avay, as what kept him was to attack 
Rogers. By report Rogers escaped him; if so, he will soon 
be here.— S. P. 

"Honorable George Read, Esq., at Congress." 

The gratifying intelligence that many of the Delaware 
militia discovered " a noble ardor to aid in the defence of 
Philadelphia" was communicated to Mr. Read by General 
McKinley in his letter from 

"Wilmington, 4th December, 17 "7 6. 
"Dear Sir, — Last Monday the Council of Safety of this 
county met here, before whom I laid the letters, of wbich 
the inclosed are copies, avIio were unanimously of opinion 
that the same should be referred to the whole Council for 
this State, and for that and other purposes the members 
should be notified to meet next Monday, being the 9th 
instant, at the town of Dover, and an express was sent oft' 
very early yesterday morning to notify them accordingly 
of this proceeding. I wrote to the gentlemen who ad- 
dressed themselves to you, James Wilson, etc., and sent 
my letter by a gentleman traveller yesterday morning, but 

15 



218 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 

lest it might miscarry, please to inform them thereof. 
Many of the militia in this place and around have dis- 
covered a noble ardor to go and assist, as far as in their 
power, their brethren of Philadelphia, but will not enter 
for the time proposed by the Committee. Some proposed 
that I should issue orders, calling forth the militia to march, 
but this I could not in the present case apprehend that I 
could properly do, or that I could answer for the charges 
and consequences that might accrue; so I thought it better 
to defer any such orders until the General Council have 
met, but in the mean time to renew my orders for the 
militia to hold themselves in readiness to march at an hour's 
notice. Pray write as speedily as possible the state of 
affairs, as nearly as you can understand, with respect to the 
situation and circumstances, etc. of both armies, and your 
advice as to our proceedings, which the Council would be 
extremely glad to have. Pray excuse haste, as I have 
scarcely leisure to read this scrawl over, 

"I am, with sincere regard, dear sir, 

"Yours affectionately, 

"Jno. McKinley. 
"To the Hon. George Read, Esq., Philadelphia, per favor 
of Mr. Edward Gyles." 

General McKinley wrote again to Mr. Read, on the sub- 
ject of his letter sent by Mr. Gyles, on the same day. 

"Wilmington, December 4th, 1T76. 

" Dear Sir, — I was favored with yours of yesterday, a 
very short time after I had written" a few lines to you this 
morning, and delivered them to Mr. Gyles, — therein I per- 
ceive that you recommend the marching of the militia from 
this State even in single companies, which will greatly 
encourage them, and will be properly attended to. I shall 
immediately order them to get in readiness in this county, 
and hope to have the concurrence of the General Council in 
ordering them to march, which I expect will be done 
shortly. Pray write me as frequently as possible. I write 
this at your house. Mrs. Read and family are very well, 
and desire their love to you. 

" I am yours sincerely, 

" John McKinley. 

" To the Hon. George Read, Esquire, Philadelphia, fa- 
vored by Mr. Gyles." 



OF GEORGE READ. 219 

Mr. Read, it appears by the last of Mr. McKinley's letters, 
had a house then in Wilmington. He wrote to Mrs. Read 
from 

"Philadelphia, 6th December, 1776. 

"My DEAR G , Attendance night and morning at com- 
mittees, and all day at Congress, puts it out of my power 
to write to you so frequently as I ought, and have had op- 
portunities, but I kave no chance of a moment but when I 
retire out of Congress to the Committee-Room, where I now 
am, to write to any person ; however, be assured if any 
[thing] very material occurs you shall hear it. General 
Washington, in his letter of yesterday, mentions the enemy's 
being at Brunswick, and Lord Sterling, with two brigades, 
consisting [of] 1200 men, including the Delaware battalion, 
at Princeton, about fifteen miles apart, — that General Mer- 
cer has marched back 1200 men from Trenton to Princeton 
as a reinforcement, and General Washington is to follow 
this day. General Lee is somewhere in the neighborhood, 
but where particularly, or [with] what force, is not pre- 
cisely known. The German battalion belonging to the 
continent, with the city militia, have marched from here — 
supposed more than 3000. I have little doubt that the 
progress of the British army will be stopped — if no more. 
The troops belonging to the ' flying camp,' whose term of 
enlistment had expired, left the general in whole brigades, 
— particularly Jersey and Maryland, — as also Colonel Pat- 
terson's battalion — they would [not] serve an hour longer, 
so that the city is filled with the returning soldiers, though 
never more needed in the field. The Delegates of Mary- 
land, with General Mifflin, harangued a great number, per- 
haps six or seven hundred of them, in the State House yard 
yesterday with success, and it is expected a great part will 

return for a month. G Gurney told me, as I came by 

to Congress, that she had thoughts still of going down to 
you; she is presently engaged n preparing their house in 
town for Messrs. Tilghman and Carroll, of Maryland, who 
are to go into it. Bedford came to town Tuesday evening, 
— he is mending. Tom Read inarched last evening. Jemmy 
Read goes this evening ; his company went yesterday. Gen- 
eral Thompson is still with us. I am satisfied you will not 
be disturbed in your quarters this season, therefore make 
yourself easy, and kiss our little ones. I know not when I 



220 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 

may see you. I cannot stir, for the non-attendance of our 
representatives for times past has been severely animad- 
verted upon since my return. 

" I am yours most affectionately, 

" George Read. 
" Mrs. Gertrude Read." 

General McKinley wrote again to Mr. Read on the subject 
of the reinforcement of the American army by militia from 
Delaware. 

" Wilmington, 7th December, 1776. 

" Dear Sir, — In consequence of your letters, orders have 
been issued to the commanding officers of the several com- 
panies of the first battalion, as likewise to the commanding 
officers of the second battalion, of militia in this county, to 
procure as many of those who are under their respective 
commands [as they can], to provide themselves with every- 
thing necessary, and to be ready to march to reinforce the 
army under General Washington as speedily as possible. 
Many have shown much aLicrity, and, in particular, a com- 
pany of the militia in this place are ready to march, but 
hearing that the English army has not been farther than 
Brunswick, and are now retreating, and that General Lee 
hath joined General Washington, with a considerable army, 
and the miHtia not being willing to comply with the terms 
of the only requisition made by proper authority of con- 
tinuing in service [from] this [time to] the 10th of March 
next, and no provision for pay or other necessary supplies 
is mentioned to us, what is to be done? The militia would, 
I am persuaded, readily go to the immediate defence of 
Philadelj)hia at all ev^ts, but they object to march farther 
on the terms proposed. By whom are they to be paid and 
subsisted is what they require to know. The Council of 
Safety for this county meet here this day, and the General 
Council at Dover on Monday. The bearer will deliver you 
<£225 for the salt purchnsed by Captain Grantham. The 
owners had actually agreed with Mr. Aaron Musgrave, of 
this place, for twenty shiillings per bushel; though they 
afterwards charged Captain Grantham twenty-two shillings 
and sixpence. Pray write me frequently, and excuse haste. 



OF GEOROE READ. 221 

I am, very sincerely, dear sir, your affectionate, humble 

^«''''*"'' "John McKinlf.y* 

"To the Hon. GeorGK Read, Esciuire, Philadelphia, per 
the fiivor of Mr. Molis Patterson." 

The last letter I find among Mr. Read's papers upon the 
all-ateorbing subject, in December, 1776, the rcmlorcen.ent 
of General Washington's army to cover Philadelphia, is 
from Thomas Duff, marching to join his army. 

"Philadelphia, December 16tb, 1716. 
"Worthy Sik,— I make bold to acquaint you that we 
arrived here next day after our departure from Wilmmgton 
and rthatl on our way [we] met General Mifflin at Chester, 
who received us kindly; -t which time there were two ves- 
sels at Chester with salt, bought by some Tones from 
Jersey wTstopped one, and sent the salt to Philadelpliia 
ami the other was under sail, but foVowed by a vessel 

"'a r^on^to h^at'that our Brigadier McKinley should 
discoura-e the men from marching. Captain Craigheads 
men 4hom we sent for, and who were on their way to us 
were, It seems, sent home by him, saying, 'they need not 
proceed without they pleased,' etc, This, you must know 
^as told me by the guard sent for^he m, and had such 

* Coniecturino- from bis name that President McKinlcv was of 
ScotcirorSco™r.Irisb extraction, and was a Presbytenan, ■>"'! • « red 
f„t,e Presbvterian bnrying-ground in Wilmmgton .vcrcte.>^d< I 

was bon, !n tl,o Kingdom of Ireland, on the 24th Fel>raary, 1,21, and 
^'^;'i^: SdlTin'u ".U^is^l^td pnrsning the practice of 

^''r;rd!^dt;rl'f J-carl' tr g ;Sed a long life, nsefnliy to the pub- 
lie, aud honorably to- himself." 

* Augu.^t 28tb, 1856. 



222 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 

influence that some of the guard, as well as ten of Captain 
Craighead's men, turned back immediately, so that his 
company is reduced to a few, in so much that they who are 
here of his company are almost discouraged. And further, 
sir, I am ashamed that so few men from our State have ap- 
peared here as yet, which astonishes the officers and gentle- 
men here very much, as they always expected something 
clever from our militia. I make what defence I can for the 
brigadier, but I am afraid the backwardness which seems 
to be shown by him and some others, on this alarming 
occasion, will grow here, as people seem to know everywhere 
of the transactions below. 

"We thank you, sir, for your friendship and assistance, 
which we account preferable to all that has been done for 
us. We have not made use of your order as yet, not know- 
ing how matters may yet be fixed, [and] we would choose 
to act with credit. [I] am, in haste, your most obedient, 
humble servant, 

"Thomas Duff. 

"I sent your letter to camp this day by Mr. Robert 
Curry. 

" To the Honorable George Read, Esquire, in Wilming- 
ton, favored by Lieutenant Garrett." 

These charges may be unfounded, but they have some 
support, it seems to me, from the caution, bordering upon 
timidity, manifested by the foregoing letters of General 
McKinley in an emergency demanding prompt decision and 
action, and the unhesitating assumption of responsibility 
from which he apoears to have shrunk. He must have 
been soon after elected President of Delaware, for he held 
this office when taken prisoner by the British, in September, 
1777, soon after the battle of Brandy wine. 

The last of the letters, addressed to Mr. Read, in 1776, 
which I find among his papers, is from his friend Mr. 
Evans, in reply to his letter communicating the welcome 
intelligence of General Washington's daring attack on the 
enemy at Trenton, and its brilliant success. 

" December 29th, 1176. 

"Dear Sir, — I received yours of yesterday, and upon 
reading the contents, it gives me real satisfaction to hear 



OF OEORQE READ. 223 

of the success of General Washington's army, which was 
related nearly in the same terms by Mr. Joseph Carson, 
who came from Philadelphia yesterday into our neighbor- 
hood. I hope it is the happy prelude to better times, for a 
few such attacks will have the happy tendency to animate 
those who were dispirited from the incursions the enemy 
had made in the Jersey. If this lucky event is improved 
(which I make no doubt it will be) our affairs will, I hope, 
soon put on a very different appearance. 

"I this moment received a letter from my brother George, 
who informs me that General Heath attacked Hackensack 
with success; in which [attack] he took 130 prisoners, and 
a great quantity of plunder carried there by the English 
army. I approve of your not going to Baltimore* until 
your General Assembly have met, as some general regula- 
tions may point out themselves as absolutely necessary to be 
done, and I am convinced the members will expect your 
aid. I should be glad we had a representation in Congress, 
but under your particular circumstances make no doubt you 
will stand excused for not appearing in Congress earlier, as 
the business of the government was deferred over, at the 
last meeting of the General Assembly, to this time, and the 
people will expect something to be done, or grow very un- 
easy, the more especially if our affairs should take a happy 
turn in our favor, which the news of the day seems to give 
great reason to hope for; or should we be disappointed in 
our sanguine expectations from General Washington's suc- 
cess at Trenton, yet, upon the return of the militia, they 
will be very urgent to have a militia law established for 
the recovery of the fines of the pon-associators, and they 
will think themselves the more entitled to such an act now 
as many of the associators have boon in the service at this 
season of the year. I hope you ^/ill excuse my remarks, 
and attribute them to the constant wish I have to see our 
internal peace flourish, and the confidence of the people 
established in their representatives. 

"I am a little easier at present from my disorder than I 
have been for some ' days past. My compliments to Mrs. 



* Congress, being insecure from the advance of the British at Phila- 
delphia, had adjourned to Baltimore. 



224 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 

Read; and I am, with great respect, your friend and hum- 
ble servant, 

"John Evans. 
"To George Read, Esquire, Wilmington, per Captain 
Samuel Evans." 

The condition of America seemed desperate. New Jersey 
appeared subjugated, neutrals were declaring forthe royalist 
party, thousands of timid friends of independence in the 
Middle States were ready to save their lives and property 
by unqualified submission, recruiting was at an end, the 
soldiers, as their terms of service expired, left the American 
standard, and the exulting Tories were confident that the 
rebel Washington would soon be a general without an army, 
and a fugitive beyond the Alleghany, should he escape the 
just doom of his treason. The brilliant success at Trenton 
dispelled the deep and general despondency of the Ameri- 
cans, and the eventful year 1776 closed upon them, more 
resolved than before to maintain the independence they 
had declared, and again hopeful of success. 



OF GEORGE READ. 225 



APPENDICES TO CHAPTER III. 



I WAS not aware of the instructions to the Delaware delogates in 
the Continental Congress, of June 14tl), 1176, until having been referred 
to volume 9th of the "Writings of John Adams," page 398, I found 
there the following statement in his letter of June 14th, 1770, to Samuel 

Chase : . , • i /> n 

" McKean has returned from the ' Lower Counties' with full powers. 
Their instructions are in the same words with the new ones to the dele- 
gates of Pennsylvania. New Jersey has dethroned Franklin, and in a 
letter which has just come to my hand, from indisputable authority, I 
am told that the delegates from that colony will vote plump. Maryland 
now stands alone. I presume she will soon join company ; if not, she 
must be left alone." . 

After careful examination of the Journal of the Continental Congress, 
AD 177G, I failed to find these instructions there, while those of New 
Jersey and Maryland, empowering their delegates in that body to vote 
for independence, appeared pages 224, 225, 22(5, and a resolution of the 
New York Convention, approving the Declaration of Independence, 
pao-e 250 Doubt was therefore caused of the accuracy of Mr. Adams's 
statement, to test which I endeavored unsuccessfully to find the Journal 
of the session of the Delaware Assembly that gave, it was alleged, these 
instructions. They were, however, discovered in the "Pennsylvania 
Journal and Weekly Advertiser" of June 19th, 1776, by the Honoi^ble 
John M. Kead, who favored me with a copy of them. Chancellor Har- 
rino-ton examined a collection of journals of the Delaware Legislature 
heliad previously given to gentlemen in Wilmington, Delaware, but 
they were posterior to 1776. ' He also sought for this journal in Dover, 
and H F. Rodney in Sussex, without success. James R. Booth, Es- 
quire grandson of James Booth, Clerk of the Delaware Assembly, and 
afterwards Chief Justice of the Court of Common Pleas of this State, 
put into my hand several journals of the General Assembly of Dela- 
ware, in manuscript, but, though of years immediately before and after 
1776* the one I souiiht was not among them, and I fear it is not extant 
in Delaware. I am much indebted to these gentlemen for their kind and 
ready aid in this search. 



226 LJFE AND GOBRESPONDENGE 



ARGUMENTS FOR AND AGAINST THE DECLARATION OF 
INDEPENDENCE. 

In Congress, Friday, June 7th, 17T6. 

The Virginia delegates, in obedience to instructions from their con- 
stituents, moved that Congress should declare that the " IJnited Col- 
onies" are, and of right ought to be, free and independent States. This 
proposition was debated in committee of the whole on the 8th and 10th 
days of June. 

It was argued by James Wilson, R. R. Livingston, E. Rutledge, and 
others. 

That though friends to the proposition, and convinced of the impos- 
sibility of the colonies ever being again united to Britain, they were 
opposed to the adoption of it, — 

L Because it was not wise to take this capital step till the voice of 
the people drove Congress to it ; the people were their power, and with- 
out them such "Declaration"'could not be carried into effect. 

2. The people of the middle colonies were not yet ripe for this De- 
claration, and soon would join in the general voice of America. 

3. The ferment caused by the resolution of Congress suppressing the 
exercise of all power derived from the crown, in the middle colonies, 
showed that they were not yet prepared for separation from Britain. 

4. That some of them had expressly forbidden their delegates to 
consent to the Declaration of Independence, and others had given no 
instructions, and consequently no powers to consent to it. 

5. That if the delegates of a colony could not declare it independent, 
other colonies could not declare it for them, the colonies being as yet 
perfectly independent of each other. 

6. That the Assembly of Pennsylvania was then sitting, its Con- 
vention would soon sit, the Convention of New York was then sitting, 
and the Assemblies or Conventions of Jersey and Delaware would 
meet on the Monday following, and it was probable these bodies would 
take up the question of independence, and 'declare to their delegates the 
voice of their States. 

*7. That if such " Declaration" should now be agreed upon, the 
delegates of the colonies just mentioned must retire, and possibly their 
colonies secede from the union, and secession weaken us more than we 
would be strengthened by any foreign alliance. 

8. That in the event of such a division, foreign powers would refuse 
to join us, or, taking advantage of our desperate situation, would impose 
hard terms. 

9. That there was little reason to hope for an alliance with France 
and Spain, to whom we were looking. 

1 0. That France and Spain had reason to be jealous of us as a rising 
power, who would certainly one day strip them of their American 
possessions, and were more likely to form a connection with Great 
Britain, who, if they should find themselves unable to subdue us, 



OF GEORGE BEAD. 227 

would, to recover these colonies, restore Canada to France and Florida 
to Si)ain. 

11. That there would soon be certain information of the dipi)osition 
of the French court from our agent, sent expressly to ascertain it, 
and by awaiting the issue of the present campaign, which all hoped 
would be favorable, an alliance with this po^^er might be had on l)etter 
terms than at present, and to such aid ])Ostponing the "Declaration" 
would work no delay, for it was impossible for us to receive assistance 
this campaign. 

12. That it was prudent to fix among ourselves the terms on which 
we Avould form an alliance before we declared we would form one, at all 
events, and if we agreed upon them and had our " Declaration of Inde- 
pendence" ready by the time our ambassador was prepared to sail, it 
would be as well as to go into a declaration of independence at this day. 

On the other side it was urged by John Adams, Lee, Wythe, and 
others, — 

1. That no gentleman had argued against the policy of separation 
from Britain or supposed the renewal of our connection with her pos- 
sible. 

2. That the question was not that we should make ourselves by a 
declaration of independence what ive are not, but whether we should 
declare a fact which already exists. 

3. That as to the people or Parliament of Great Britain, we had always 
been independent of them, their restraints on our trade deriving efficacy 
only from our acquiescence in them, and not from their right to impose 
them ; and so far as our connection had been federal only it was dis- 
solved by the commencement of hostilities. 

4. That as to the king, our allegiance to him was dissolved by his 
assent to the act of Parliament declaring us out of his protection and 
levying war upon us, a fact which proved us out of his protection, — that 
these are reciprocal, the one ceasing when the other is withdrawn. 

5. That James II. never declared the English people out of his pro- 
tection, yet his actions proved it, and the Parliament declared it, — 
therefore 

6. No delegate can be denied or want a power to declare an existing 
truth. 

t. That the delegates from the Delaware counties having declared 
their constituents ready to join, there are only Pennsylvania and Mary- 
land whose delegates are absolutely tied up, and that these had only 
by their instructions reserved the right of confirming or rejecting the 
measure. 

8. That the instructions from Pennsylvania might be accounted for 
from the time in which they were drawn, near a year ago, since when 
the face of affairs had totally changed. 

9. That since then it was evident Britain would accept nothing but 
carte-blanche. 

10. That the people wait for us to lead the way, and are in favor of 
the measure, though the instructions given by some of their rej)resenta- 
tives are not, and that the voice of representatives is not always conso- 
nant with that of the people, and this is remarkably the case in the 
middle colonics. 

11. That the resolution of the Virginia House of Delegates, of the 



228 LIFE AND CORBESPONDENCE 

' 15th of May, by raising murmurs against it in Pennsylvania and 
Maryland, and thus calling forth the voice of the freer part of their 
citizens, showed them to be the majority even in these colonies. 

12. That the backwardness of these colonies was partly ascribable 
to proprietary influence and partly to their not having been yet attacked 
by the enemy, and the last cause was not likely to be soon removed, as 
it was not probable that the enemy would assail them this summer. 

13. That it would be vain to wait for perfect unanimity, since it is 
vain to expect all men to be of one sentiment on any question. 

14. That the conduct of some colonies had given reason to suspect 
they meant to keep in the rear of the rest that their particular prospect 
might be better in the worst event, and therefore it was necessary that 
those colonies who had hazarded all from the beginning to come for- 
ward and put all again to their own hazard. 

15. That the history of the Dutch revolution, of whom three prov- 
inces only confederated at the first, proved that the secession of some 
colonies would not be as dangerous as was apprehended. 

16. That the declaration of independence alone could make it consist- 
ent with European delicacy for European powers to treat with us, or 
even to receive our ambassadors, and that till this they would not receive 
our vessels into their ports or acknowledge the adjudications of our ad- 
miralty courts to be legitimate in cases of captures of British vessels. 

17. That if France and Spain be jealous of our rising power, they 
will be much more jealous of us if we be connected with Great Britain, 
and therefore see it their interest to separate us from her ; but if they 
refuse our alliance we are only where we are ; but without trying we 
shall never know whether they will or not. 

18. That the present campaign maybe unsuccessful, and therefore 
we had better propose an alliance while our affairs are hopeful. 

19. That to await the event of the present campaign will certainly 
work delay, because during the summer France can effectually assist 
us by cutting off tlie supply of provisions from England and Ireland, 
on which the armies of England here depend, or by putting in motion 
her great power in the West Indies and calling our enemy to defend his 
pos.sessions there. 

20. That it would be idle to lose time in settling the terms of alliance 
before we had determined to enter into alliance. 

21. That we should lose no time in opening a trade for our people 
who will want clothes, and money to pay taxes. 

22. That the only misfortune is that we had not entered into an alli- 
ance with France six months sooner, as, besides opening her ports to our 
last year's produce, she might have marched an army into Germany, 
and prevented the petty princes there from selling their unhappy sub- 
jects to subdue us. 

"It appearing in these debates that Xew York, New Jersey, Pennsyl- 
vania, Delaware, and Maryland were not yet matured for falling from 
the parent stem, but were fast advancing to that state, it was thought 
prudent to wait awhile for them, and to postpone the final decision to 
July 1st; but that this might occasion as little delay as possible a 
committee was appointed to prepare 'a declaration of independence,' 
— Jefferson, John Adams, Roger Sherman, Robert R. Livingston, and 
Doctor Franklin." — Jefferson's Writings, vol. i. pp. 12-17. 







OF GEORGE BEAD. 229 



O. 



^ 



THE SIGNATURE OF THE DECLARATION OF INDEPEND- N 

ENCE. 

f The Declaration of Independence was signed July 4tb, 1770, by all 
present in Congress on that day, except Mr. Dickinson. 

The subse(iucnt signatures of members, not then present, and some ■^ 
of them not yet in office, is easily explained, if we observe who they 
were, — to wit, of New York and Pennsylvania. New York did not sign 
till the 15th, because it was not until the 9th her convention authorized 
the signature of the Declaration by her delegates. The Pennsylvania 
convention, learning that the Declaration had been signed only by a 
minority" of her delegates, named a new delegation, leaving out Mr. ^ 
Dickinson, who had refused to sign, and Willing and Humphrey, who 
had withdrawn, and reappointing the three who had signed, with 
Morris, who was not present, and appointing five new ones. Rush, 
Clymcr, Smith, Taylor, and Ross. Morris and the five new members 
were permitted to sign, because thus was manifested the assent of their 
full delegation, which else might have been doubted. 

Mr. Jefferson did not know why Thornton, of New Hampshire, was 
permitted to sign so late as November 4th, but adds, "doubtless for a 
sufficient reason."* But Mr. McKean, in his letter to the editor of the 
"Freeman's Journal" (16th June, 1817), states, it was because he was 
not elected to Congress till September, and did not take his seat till the 
day he signed the Declaration. — National Recorder, vol. i. p. 86. 

The above named are the only post signers except Mr. McKean. At 
the foot of the "List of Errata" (vol. i. p. 3) of the Laws of Delaware, 
edited by George Read, and printed by John and Samuel Adams (New 
Castle, 1797), is this note: " In the Appendix (to vol. i.. Laws of Dela- 
ware) to the list of signatures [to the Declaration there inserted], p. 72,f 
under the head of Delaware, after George Read add Thomas McKean, 
who, though not present at the first general signatm*e, being then with ■ 
the 'flying camp' in New Jersey, had voted for the measure, and signed 
the original on his return from thence, and so it happened that in the 
first printed copies the name was omitted, and such was the one trans- 
mitted by Congress to this State." 

* Jefferson's Writings, vol. 1. pp. 118-12]. 
f It is page 78. 






230 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 

ID. 
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF C^SAR AUGUSTUS RODNEY, 

Read before the Grand Lodge of Delaware, by William T. Read, 
Grand Master of Masons in Delaware, June 21th, 1853. Published 
by order of the Grand Lodge. 

C^SAR Augustus Rodney was born in Dover, in Kent County, in 
the State of Delaware, on the 4th day of January, 1112. He was the 
son of Colonel Thomas Rodney and Elizabeth Fisher. His family is 
of great antiquity in England. Sir Walter de Rodney, its founder, 
having come, in the twelfth century, from Normandy as a follower of 
the Empress Matilda, daughter of Henry I., and having been distin- 
guished in the war she waged with the usurper Stephen. His de- 
scendants were possessed of many manors, and were actors, and 
prominent ones, in the stormy periods through which they lived. But, 
at last, by divisions of its estates in several generations of the family, 
lavish expenditures, advances to aid the royal cause in the time of the 
great rebellion, and forfeitures upon the success of the popular party, 
its wealth and importance were greatly diminished. Soon after the 
settlement of Pennsylvania, William Rodney, ivho had married Alice, ■ 
daughter of Sir Thomas Caesar, an eminent London merchant, migrated 
to that province, and finally settled in Kent County, Delaware, where 
he took an active and prominent part in public affairs; and was the 
first Speaker of the first House of Assembly of the three lower counties 
on Delaware. He died in 1708, leaving eight children, and a large 
entailed estate, most of which, by the decease of nearly all of them 
without issue, came to the youngest of his sons, Ctesar, who was 
benevolent, unambitious, and undistinguished. He married the daughter 
of the Reverend Thomas Crawford, the first niissionary to Dover, 
Delaware, of the venerable Society for Propagating the Gospel in 
Foreign Parts, a pious, learned, and diligent minister of the church. 
Among the eight children of this marriage were Cassar, the signer of 
the Declaration of Independence, and Colonel Thomas Rodney.* I 
have been informed by an eminent gentleman, far advanced in life, for- 
merly resident in Dover, Delaware, that in his youth he well knew 
Thomas Rodney, — a gray-headed man, — much respected, — of small 
property, — not a householder, but living with his friends, — reputed a 
man of extensive reading, and having good knowledge of law, though 
not a lawyer by profession, — a writer of essays for newspapers, and 
somewhat eccentric in his opinions; and that he was appointed by 
President JeflTerson a judge in the territory of Mississippi, where he 
died, in that office, having acquired considerable property. f To Thomas 



* His daughter Lavinia was married to John Fisher, late judge of the United 
States District Court for the District of Delaware. 

f Biography of the Signers of the Declaration of Independence, vol. iv. pp. 
313-318, 



OF GEORGE READ. 231 

Rodney was made the remarkable conimunication by General Charles 
Lee ''that he was the auihur of the Letters of Jimius.'" Lee, with g-reat 
military talents, was vain, insatiably ambitious, and unscrupulous, and, 
with some good qualities, very eccentric. Soured by the disapiiointmcnt 
of brilliant hopes, he became neglectful of the common decencies of life, 
and terminated his career, full of romantic incidents, in Gerce misan- 
thropy, almost like a beast of the jungle or forest in its lair. This state- 
ment may be found on pages 7G and 77 of the Preliminary Es.say to the 
London edition of Junius of 1812, republished in Philadelphia in 1813. 
That Lee made this statement to Thomas Rodney is certain, but it has 
been proved a pure fiction by the comparison of his style and political 
opinions with those of Junius, and his absence from England, when 
the "Letters of Junius" were published, and that writer frequently 
communicating with Woodfall. 

Mr. Rodney was brought uj) by his uncle Caesar, who was pre-eminent 
among the patriots of our Revolution for ardent attachment to the cause 
of his country. His talents, consecrated to the public weal, gave him 
great influence in that august assembly, the Continental Congress, while 
the amenity of his manners and the playfulness of his wit made him the 
darling of his friends. From this venerable man, in whom the stern 
virtue of an old Roman was softened by the heaven-born influences of 
our favored era, Mr. Rodne}-, doubtless, imbibed that admiration of our 
civil institutions which distinguished him. His uncle made provision 
in his will for his education, which was completed in the University of 
Pennsylvania, where he graduated with distinction at an early age, in 
1790, and soon after commenced the study of the law in the office of 
Joseph B. McKean. The profession of his choice did not tempt his 
young ambition with the splendid incentives of the British Barrister, 
the princely revenue and the glittering coronet, but he adopted it from 
inclination, and by the advice of his friends, who considered him suited 
to it. He was admitted to the bar in 1793, and commenced the practice 
of the law in Wilmington, Delaware. His practice, though he was dis- 
couraged by failure in his first efforts, after a time became respectable, 
and then lucrative. If he was surpassed by some of his contemporaries 
in vigor and grasp and subtlety of intellect and profound erudition, they 
were in the first rank of the lawyers of their day. While he brought to 
the forum competent power as a dialectician, with extensive knowledge 
of legal principles and decisions, it was in addressing a jury that he 
excelled. Always fluent, he could be pathetic, or delight his hearers 
with declamation, adorned by figures, from his proliic fancy, or by facts, 
from his ample store of general knowledge. So simple and unaflccted 
was he in dress, and address, so kindly, and benevolent, and good- 
humored, that the Court, the jury, the bar, and the by-standers listened 
to him with favor, and were inclined to his side of the case. Old-fash- 
ioned lawyers sometimes thought he got out of bounds. Chief Justice 
Read, when he quoted "Beccariaon Crimes and Punishments," stopped 
him, saying, " that book was no authority in his court." Invective — 
that terrible weapon of the orator, beneath which men of iron nerves 
cower in dismay and confusion, I will not say he could not wield, but I 
believe he never did wield it. 

Seldom is the deep-read lawyer a polite scholar. Inured to grapple 
with syllogisms, and to chase subtleties through the labyrinths of legal 



232 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 

disquisition, be disdains to frolic with the Muses. Mr. Rodney, wisely, 
thought that an argument would not be less conclusive because clothed 
in elegant diction, nor less clear because illustrated by metaphor, and 
though he must cite black-lettered reporters he might quote from the 
poets. He justly concluded that a man to be eminent in his peculiar 
pursuit must have some acquaintance, if not with all others, at least 
with kindred ones. His taste for elegant literature, perhaps first 
awakened at the university, was sedulously cultivated in after-life. His 
library, judiciously selected, was the largest in our State, and whoever 
listened to him was soon aware that it was not for show he accumulated 
books — to accumulate them was, indeed, his passion — to love them — 
what is it but to delight in converse with the wise and with the good 
of all ages ? 

Mr. Rodney appeared to greatest advantage — bland, gentle, and affec- 
tionate as he was — in the bosom of his family. Too often, could we 
follow distinguished men from the public scene of their triumphs to the 
hallowed precincts of domestic life, would we be pained by witnessing 
the jocund laugh of infancy stilled at their approach, fear paling the 
menial's brow, and tears on the cheeks of partners they had sworn 
before high heaven to love and to cherish. Too often the man who has 
inveighed, in the forum or Senate-house, against oppression, is the mean 
tyrant of his own hearth. 

Mr. Rodney possessed great conversational talent. 

He talked much, not from ostentation, but because his mind was full 
to overflowing, and because he loved to impart pleasure. He was not 
one of those lovers of logomachy, who open their mouths only to do 
battle, nor one of those haranguers, who make mutes of all not as vain, 
selfish, and impudent as themselves. To the young and the diffident 
his manner was kind, and almost paternal, he was watchful to draw 
them out, and prompt to commend when they acquitted themselves 
well. His reading was so general that he could instruct or amuse on 
many subjects, and from his share in public affairs, and intimate ac- 
quaintance with statesmen of his day, during some of the most interest- 
ing periods of our history, he had a fund of valuable information. His 
anecdotes, of which he had ample store, were -pointed, well told, and 
happily introduced. Benevolence, unfeigned, so impregnated his dis- 
course that it was difficult to listen to him and not to love him, and 
while listening to the wisdom and the wit of this fascinating companion 
the sands of life passed unheeded, and 

" Daylight would into the lattice peep 
Ere night seemed well begun." 

He loved to speak not of the divine attribute of power, not of Jehovah 
when 

" Looking on the earth it quake?, 
Touching the mountains and they burn," 

but of God as love, pitying the infirmities of his creatures, opening wide 
his hand, and filling all things living with plenteousness, and spreading 
his protecting wings over his children, on the land and on the sea. 



OF GEORGE READ. 233 

In 1791 Mr. Rodney married Susan, dauj^hter of John Ilunn, who 
survived him, and they had twelve ehildren.* 

lie was at an early jieriod of his life involved in the turmoil of poli- 
tics, because then, as now, it was difficult for the eminent lawyer to 
avoid being a busy politician. The political contests of that period 
were violent. Truth, candor, and charity were too often immolated on 
the altar of party. It is a fact most honorable to Mr. Rodney, that 
though an active and leading Democrat, he numbered among liis warm- 
est friends some of the most distinguished Federal leaders — for example, 
Bayard, White, and Yining. Tliere can be no stronger evidence of his 
great popularity than his election, in 1802, to the House of Representa- 
tives of the United States by a majority of fifteen votes over James A. 
Bayard, so eminent as a statesman. f It appears, by his letter of De- 
cember 5th, 1803, to my father, that he was then a member of the 
Committee of Ways and Means. On the 5th of December, 1804, he , 
was chosen, by ballot, one of the seven managers to conduct the im- 
peachment of Judge Chase, wliich, from the character of the accused, 
the ability it evoked, and the deep and extensive excitement of political 
feeling it caused, was invested with an importance and interest which, 
in some measure, it still retains. What was the City of Washington 
at that day? It was a cit}'^ of great pretension and small performance. 
The visitor there, for the first time, who had seen its magnificent plan, 
was astonished to find its avenues and streets, fitted to be the thorough- 
fares of the busy throngs of a great emporium, partially opened, and 
bordered not by lofty edifices, but the stately trees of the American 
forest, with groups of houses, at wide intervals, which made it, in 
truth, no more than a collection of villages. The President — who 
affected contempt for forms, which that wily leader of a great party 
knew full well would be lauded as republican simplicity — might be 
encountered, any day, on the Pennsylvania Avenue, making his way 
through its sloughs, on his Virginia pony, and hitching it to a post, 
while he paid a visit. The wings of the Capitol alone were built, the 
gap between them being filled by a structure of boards, which gave the 
appearance of meanness to both. The trial of Judge Chase began on 
the 4th of February, 1805. The beautiful Senate-chamber, which has 
that greatest merit of any work of man, suitability to its object, which 
its more imposing neighbor — the Hall of the House of Representa- 
tives — wants, was fitted up for this occasion with due regard to con- 
venience and some to effect. Aaron Burr presided, dignified and impartial, 
as was universally admitted ; his hands red with the blood of Hamilton ; 
his dark eye as piercing and ins ecjuanimity as undisturbed as if he had 
not made utter shipwreck of fortune and of fame. Upon his right hand 

* Aaron Biirr, in a letter to his daughter Theodo.«ia, of the 17th February, 
1802, requests her to desire Dr. Edwards to give Mr. Alston a "line to C. A. 
Ivodney, a very respectable young man." — Davis's Life of A. Burr, vol. il. p. 145. 

In a letter dated , to A. Uurr, ^Ir. Kodney says, " I had the pleasure of re- 
ceiving yours of the 10th instant. The advice you kindly give I shall cheerfully 
follow. It has ever been my maxim to be moderate but firm — suariter in vwdo. 
fortHer in re." And in a letter dated l^Oth ilarch, 180'J, he informs him, " I have 
purchased a little tract, adjoining Dr. Tilton's, which he showed you, and have 
cut out abundant work for the season." — Ibid., j)p. 102, lUO. 

f Hildreth's History of United States (2d Series), vol. ii. p. 48G. 

16 



234 LIFE AND CORBESPONDENGE 

aud his left sat the Senators on benches covered with crimson cloth. 
The eye of the spectator, as it glanced over these statesmen, elderly, 
grave, and dignified, dwelt longest on the men of mark; among them, 
for example, on our own Bayard ; on John Quincy Adams, already dis- 
tinguished b}' ability in debate, multifarious knowledge, and ungainly 
manners; or Pickering, with his bald head and cue, covering, as the 
elder Adams afterward charged,* under his puritanical garb and de- 
meanor boundless ambition, who, retiring from office as poor as he 
entered it, lived on a farm of a few acres with the simplicity of Cincin- 
natus, and who has left in the archives at Washington proofs of his 
ability as Secretary of State inferior to that of none of his successors, 
Webster excepted. The Representatives, most of them much younger 
men, were seated in front of the Senators, on benches covered with 
green cloth. In front of the Representatives, on seats draped with blue 
cloth, were the Managers of the House. Among them the most promi- 
nent was John Randolph, whose failure on this occasion dimmed the 
splendor of his fame as a great parliamentary orator, and was poorly 
covered by the lame excuse that he had lost his notes. On the left of 
tlie President appeared the counsel of the accused. Harper — working as 
a joiner while he gained his early education, and by indomitable perse- 
verance making his way to Nassau Hall — stood in the front rank of the 
lawyers of his country and the statesmen of the Federal party ; Lee, 
Attorney-General of the United States, set off his legal knowledge with 
the fluent speech and graceful action which distinguished the Virginians 
in the early periods of our history ; Martin, with his profound learning 
and ponderous reasoning, which, ebrius vel non ebrius, seldom failed 
him ; the young Hopkinson, elated by his success in the courts of Penn- 
sylvania, and burning with ambition of fame coextensive with the Union, 
and already extensively known as the author of "Hail Columbia, "f 
patriotically composed to awaken an American feeling, which might 
supplant the miserable devotion of the two great parties of that da)^ to 
the two great belligerents of Europe. Hail Columbia, though no high 
place can be claimed for it as a poetical composition, carries with it so 
many pi'ecious recollections that it will not, I hope, be consigned to 
oblivion Avhen we shall boast, as assuredly we shall, a national song 
equalling or surpassing the grand lyrics of Campbell. In the arrange- 
ments of the Senate-chamber for this trial the ladies were not forgotten. 
They were seated in a semi-circular gallery, over the benches of the Rep- 
resentatives, and for the most part were-the wives and daughters of the 
most distinguished men of the nation. Among them, pre-eminent for 
her queenly bearing, sat Mrs. Madison, receiving, as her due, the homage 
paid to her bland and graceful manners rather than to her position as 
wife of the Secretary of State. No Senator, I am sure, looked reprov- 
ingly upon these fair ones, if in parts of this solemn trial which they 
could not understand, and would not have relished if they could, their 
eyes wandered to the box of the foreign ministers and their young 
attaches, glittering with orders and embroidery. But the object of 
absorbing interest was the accused. Proclamation was made that 
Samuel Chase appear and answer the articles of impeachment exhibited 

* Hildreth's History of tho United States (2d Series), vol. ii. pp. 37,372. 
t Ibid., p. 208. 



OF GEORGE READ. 285 

ag^ainst him. When that old man eloquent addressed the court deny- 
ing most of the acts imputed to him, asserting the legality of those he 
admitted, and denying the improper motives with which the acts charged 
were alleged to have been done, who could forget that the sonorous 
voice which filled the Senate-chamber, first raised in opposition to the 
stamp-act, had, through the whole period of the Revolution, stirred his 
fellow-citizens in the Legislature of his native State, in their primary 
assemblies, and in the halls of Congress, to resist unto death the arbi- 
trary acts of the mother-country? who could forget that some of the 
ablest of the great state-papers of that Congress were from his pen? 
and, above all, who could forget that his name was signed to that im- 
mortal instrument which proclaimed to the world that the United States, 
free, sovereign, and independent, had taken her place among the nations 
of the earth ? Judge Chase was declared guilty of only three articles 
of the impeachment by a bare majority, unanimously acquitted of one, 
and found guilty of none, by a vote of two-thirds, and, of course, pro- 
nounced acquitted of all, — and, I think, justly, though his ardent attach- 
ment to great principles of government, he thought endangered by 
factious violence, led him to touch, in his charges, on topics forbidden by 
sound policy to the judge, and conscious of great ability, and by nature 
overbearing, he, perhaps, exhibited on the bench somewhat of the passion 
and hauteur said to have characterized many of the colonial judges.* 

Mr. Rodney displayed such al)ility and legal knowledge as one 
of the managers of this impeachment as greatly augmented his repu- 
tation. In 1804 three of the four judges of the Supreme Court of 
Pennsylvania were impeached for their (alleged) unlawful commitment 
for contempt of one of the parties in a libel suit pending in their court. 
In 1805 Mr. Rodney was employed to conduct this impeachment, which 
resulted in the acquittal of the accused. (Hildreth's History of the 
United States (2d Series), vol ii. pp. 514, 552.) The Federal party 
liaving regained its ascendency in Delaware, he was not re-elected to 
the United States House of Representatives; but in 180t he was ap- 
pointed Attorney-General of the United States, and held this office for 
four years. The attorney-general was not a cabinet-officer until 1814; 
but though not a member of the cabinet, from his high place in the 
friendship and confidence of Jefferson and Madison, he shared, I have 
no doubt, in the anxieties and counsels of that momentous period, when 
our country, constantly on the verge of war with the belligerents, who 
plundered her commerce, was brought to the brink of disunion by in- 
ternal dissensions. I know of but one of his opinions as attorney- 
general that has been questioned, — that one under which Mr Jeffer- 
son, applying to the case a territorial law, ousted Edward Livingston; 
and his opinion must have been reciuired on many nice and difficult 
questions which arose under the embargo and non-importation laws. 
In February, 1807, in the cases of Bollman and Swartwout, brought 
by habeas corpus before the United States Supreme Court, on \.\w ques- 
tions whether they should be discharged or held for trial, and, if held, 
confined or bailed, Mr. Rodney, as Attorney-General of the United 
States, appeared and made an able argument, the court deciding that 
the accused should be discharged for want of probable cause for sup- 



* Hildreth's History of the United States (2d Series), vol. ii. p. 544. 



236 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 

posing them guilty. (Burr's Trial, vol. i. pp. 21-30.) In 180T the 
mysterious movements of Aaron Burr induced his arrest on the Tom- 
bigbee, on the charge of treason, and his removal to Richmond, Vir- 
ginia, where he arrived on the 26th of Murch, and on the 30th of that 
month was transferred by his military escort to the civil authority and 
brought before Chief Justice Marshall for examination. In his trials 
in August and September of that year, on indictments for treason and 
misdemeanor, Mr. Rodney did not participate. Upon the motion that 
he should be committed to take his trial on the charges of misdemeanor, 
in setting on foot a military expedition against the dominions of the 
king of Spain, and of treason, in levying war against the United States, 
Mr. Rodney, as Attorney-General, argued in support of this motion. 
His speech is not given at large, but imperfectly by the reporter from 
his own recollections and information from others. (Burr's Trial, 
Preface.) But with these disadvantages, it exhibits legal knowledge 
and ability equal to the requirements of a case so important, in which 
it was his painful duty to appear against an individual so distinguished, 
and who, he remarked, was once his friend and received in his house as 
such. (Burr's Trial, vol. i. pp. 1, 8, 9, 10, 20.) I have been informed 
by a member of his family that he went to Richmond to take part in 
the preliminary proceedings in the case, but had little share in them, 
having been prostrated by an attack of yellow fever soon after his arrival 
there. 

Archibald Hamilton Rowan, then an exile from Ireland for political 
opinions, for which he had been prosecuted and convicted, though ably 
defended by Curran in the most eloquent of his speeches, had been the 
guest of Mr. Rodney, having been a resident for a short time in Wilming- 
ton or its vicinity. The intercourse between Rowan — highly educated 
and refined — and Mr. Rodney, under circumstances that excited his 
warmest sympathy, soon ripened into friendship. As soon as he heard 
of Mr. Rodney's illness, this warm-hearted Irishman travelled, on horse- 
back, to Richmond, to minister to his friend in a disease of the most 
malignant character, then generally believed to be contagious, and 
which has too often scared from the bedsides of its victims their nearest 
relatives and their dearest friends. The Irishman has his faults, — no 
son of Adam is without them, — but was he ever found ungrateful ? The 
following anecdote I may be pardoned for recounting, upon the same 
authority as the preceding one, becauses it illustrates a trait of Mr. 
Rodney's character, his antipathy to titles of all sorts, and his scorn of 
the fondness of some of his countrymen for such distinctions, so incon- 
sistent with their professed opinions : 

Soon after he had taken lodgings at a hotel in Richmond, one of its 
waiters (a sable one, of course), addressing him, said, " Major, will 
you please come to supper ?" " I am no major," answered Mr. Rodney. 
"Colonel," replied the black, "please to come." "lam no colonel," 
said Mr. Rodney, much amused with his pertinacity. The waiter then 
retreated, but quickly returned, and addressing him, with tenfold 
formality and respect, said, " General, be so good as to walk down to 
supper." " My friend," replied Mr. Rodney, " I am not a general." 
" You are," persisted the waiter, "for I heard men say in the bar-room 
that you are the ' Eternal General.' " Office subjected Mr. Rodney, as 
it has most of our j)ublic men, to great pecuniary loss. In a letter to 



OF GEORGE READ. 237 

my fatlior, from Wasliin^toii, datc-d July 20th, 1807, soon aftor the 
attack of the Leopard U[)on the Chesapeake, he says, "I have been 
detained here, my dear friend, much lonj^er than I contemphated, by 
events as unexpected as they are unexampled. It is very uncertain 
when I shall get a furlough from head-quarters, thougii I never was so 
anxious to see home, because I came here unprepared for a summer's 
residence, after having spent the winter at this place. It is extremely 
inconvenient to me, at this time, to abandon, as it were, my family and 
my business at the court, for I stand in need of the profits of every 
term, but at such a crisis tliere is no personal sacrifice I would not make 
rather than desert my post in a perilous season." Headds, " The Triumph 
and Bellona, each of seventy-four guns, still remain in the Chesapeake. 
In a short time Captain Decatur will give a good account of them. lie 
has eight gunboats complete, and in a few days he will have eight more. 
With this flotilla, on a calm day, he could attack and sink seventy- 
fours." From which paragraph I infer that Mr. Rodney was a believer 
in one of Thomas Jefierson's hobbies and fallacies — the gunboat system. 
In 1811 he resigned the office of Attorney-General of the United States, 
probably from prudential considerations, which the claims of his large 
family would no longer suffer him to disregard. 

He returned to the practice of the law, in "Wilmington, and must have 
vividly enjoyed the transition from the toils and disquietude of office to 
the tranquillity of his happy home. 

As soon as the war of 1812 was declared, he was elected captain of 
a company of artillery. Beloved by his men, as he was in every situa- 
tion, he was a good officer, and commanded them through that war. 
They volunteered their services to the United States — were accepted, 
discharged garrison duty for some time, and were encamjjed for a 
season, being part of a l)ody of four hundred men who marched from 
Delaware to aid in the defence of Baltimore, but were arrested before 
reaching it, by intelligence that they were not needed. 

Careless as Mr. Rodney was of dress, his coats always having been 
of the cut ludicrously, but aptly, termed the shad-belly, his military 
equipment may have shocked a martinet, but if his artillery jacket was 
sometimes buttoned awry, it covered as brave and patriotic a heart as 
ever beat beneath a uniform. 

Mr. Rodney was a member of Washington Lodge, Wilmington, and 
was elected Senior Warden of the Grand Lodge of Delaware on the 
24th of June, 1812. 

The citizens of the United States were, from mingled motives of 
benevolence and interest, anxious spectators, during the long civil 
war between Spain and her South American colonies. The colonial 
policy of the great commercial nations of Europe has disgraced them 
by its selfishness and rapacity, and that of Spain especially. The 
agriculture and manufactures of her colonists were subjected to re- 
straints almost incredible ; for example, the cultivation of the olive and 
the vine was forbidden in districts well suited to them. The commerce 
of the Spanish colonies was restricted to Spanish bottoms, and though 
never granted to exclusive conqjanies, yet being confined to a single 
port (first Seville and then Cadiz), falling into a few hands, was in effect 
a monoi)oly. Even intercourse between her j)roviiices was only par- 
tially permitted. Education was not fostered, and was confined to 



238 r-lt^E AND CORRESPONDENCE 

Latin, scholastic philosophy, and jurisprudence, civil and ecclesiastical. 
The Creoles were excluded from all offices but naunicipal ones; there 
was among them no liberty of conscience, no freedom of the press, no 
habeas corpus, no trial by jury, no share in legislation, and no books 
but those admitted by government censors. The king of Spain, not 
the Spanish nation, was the owner of these colonies, by virtue of a papal 
grant, the bull of Alexander VI. His will was law. Foreign vessels 
were excluded from his colonies, and intercourse with them punishable 
with death ; and when he relaxed this rule, as on a few occasions he 
did, it was for brief periods. But though he could shut out legitimate 
trade, and though he treated intruding foreigners, who fell into his 
power, with exceeding cruelty, he could not exclude the smuggler. It 
was, too, part of his narrow system to make this vast region a sealed 
book to all except Spain. But her own writers had delighted and as- 
tonished the world with narratives of the conquest of South America, 
and accounts of its climate, its geographj', its productions, and aboriginal 
inhabitants, truthful in general, but with the coloring of romance, and 
very far from possessing the accuracy of such works of our time. The 
royal license, but at recent periods, had opened South America to enter- 
prising and intelligent travellers; for example, in 1Y90, to Alexander 
Von Humboldt, the result of whose journeys was given to the world in 
twelve volumes, illustrated with maps and drawings, a work for extent, 
value, and accuracy of information unparalleled. Our trade with South 
America since 1810 had greatl}^ augmented our knowledge of this 
region. In 1817 a large party of our citizens had become impatient for 
the acknowledgment by our government of the South America repub- 
lics. Calm and reflecting men in the minority, as they have ever been, 
doubted whether their citizens, misgoverned for centuries, could, in the 
brief period they had been left to their own guidance, have gained the 
knowledge and love of true political principles necessary to establish 
and maintain free and independent governments. To ♦solve this doubt 
Mr. Monroe instituted the mission to South America, of which Mr, 
Rodney was the head. This appointment was most gratifying, — true, 
the duty it devolved upon him was arduous, separation from his family 
was in prospect, the perils and privation of a protracted sea voyage, and 
sojourn in a land of various climates, were before him, but the trust was 
most honorable, for he was to leave his country, not on an ordinary 
errand of diplomacy, but to solve the momentous problem whether mil- 
lions of his fellow-men deserved or not to be recognized by the United 
States among the independent nations of the earth. In July the Com- 
missioners proceeded to New York, to embark in the Ontario, but their 
sailing was delayed by the illness and death of Mr. Rodney's second 
son, a midshipman of that vessel, and they finally declined taking pas- 
sage in her, considering her accommodations inadequate. They sailed 
on the 4th of December, 1811, in the frigate Congress, Commodore 
Sinclair, ivowx Hampton Roads, In that little world — a ship of war — 
there was much to interest and instruct. He had been, for the recovery 
of impaired health, a voyager in eai'ly life, and ever after was an ardent 
admirer of our hardy mariners, and their floating abodes. There is, 
perhai)S, no object which awakens so many associations, dear to the 
philanthropist and the patriot, as that miracle of art, a ship. While she 
equalizes the distribution nature has made of her bounties among nations, 



OF GEORGE READ. 239 

sho is the \ving:ocl messenger who diffuses the precious li<^ht of kiiowl- 
eil<!:e among millions who sit in darkness and the shadow of death. 
We think, as we look upon her, anchored in some placid bay, in the 
language of Campbell, "of her days of toil, and her nights of danger." 
Every American must remember how often she has proudly borne the 
flag of his country aloft in the hour of battle, and the halo of undying 
glory with which she has encircled our name. In this voyage Mr. 
Rodney's power to attract and attach was soon manifested. Often in 
the delicious nights, peculiar to the tropics, while the gallant frigate 
glided through the ocean, which reflected the orbs that shone in glory 
above her, but among which no star of home sparkled, and the gleeful 
laugh of the frank-hearted sailor alone broke the stillness, did the offi- 
cers of the Congress find in his conversation a delightful relief from the 
ennui of a sea voyage. Alas ! many of these young men — then so full 
of talent, and courage, and hope — with Sinclair, and Graham, and 
Bland, and Baldwin* — have long since been numbered with the dead. 
Having touched at Rio de Janeiro, the Commissioners arrived after a 
prosperous voyage at Montevideo, from which place, the Congress hav- 
ing too great draught of water to ascend the La Plata farther, they 
proceeded in a small brig, " the Malacabada," or "Unfinished," by 
name, as ill-found and dirty a craft as ever sailed, to Buenos Ayres, 
where they arrived on the 28th of February, 1818, landing so unex- 
pectedly as to defeat the pul)lic reception, with which it was intended 
to honor them. The " United Provinces of La Plata," or the " Argen- 
tine Republic," then comprised about two-thirds of the viceroyalty of 
Buenos Ayres, the area of which was about one million five hundred 
thousand square miles. Watered by the grand La Plata and its afflu- 
ents, and other rivers, its fertile soil teemed with the productions of the 
temperate and torrid zones. The heroic and successful repulses of the 
attacks of Sir Home Popham in 1806, and of General Whitelock in 1807, 
taught the inhabitants of this viceroyalty their strength, and the war 
consequent upon the overthrow of the ancient government of Spain by 
Napoleon so engrossed the parent-country that she abandoned, as it 
seemed, her colonies, and the Argentine provinces, as much from neces- 
sity as choice, assumed and exercised in 1810 the powers of self-govern- 
ment, virtually independent from that year, though their independence 
was not formally declared till 1816. From 1810 almost till the arrival 
of our Commissioners they had been distracted by war with the old 
Spaniards, who, occupying, with armies from Peru, the upper country 
of the La Plata, and stained by great cruelties, strove to restore the 
despotism of the mother-country. This war was succeeded and accom- 
panied by contests, too often sanguinary, between two great parties of 
the revolutionists, one in favor of a consolidated government, adapted 
to the changed state of their affairs, with a chief magistrate, much like 
the old viceroys, the other advocating a confederacy of these provinces, 
like that of the United States. There were, besides, the disturbing 
elements of ambition and cupidity in unprincipled men, and intense 
jealousy in the other provinces of the ascendency and leadership of 

* Surgeon of the Congress — a native of Wilmington, Delaware, and eminent 
as a botanist. H, M. Brackenridge, the able and accomplished Secretary of the 
Mission, afterwards a member of the U. S. House of Representatives, survives. 



240 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 

Buenos Ayres, to which, though it may have been unduly claimed and 
attained, her superior intelligence, wealth, and sacrifices for the com- 
mon cause gave her pretensions, plausible at least. But on the 3d of 
December, 1817, a general Congress of these provinces, at first nine, 
then fourteen (the additional provinces being created out of the original 
ones), enacted at Buenos Ayres a provisional regulation, to be in force 
till a constitution should be adopted. This regulation provided for the 
election of a Congress, and invested it with supreme legislative power, 
under wise restraints, with power to appoint a chief magistrate, to be 
styled Supreme Director. This provisional instrument, with great de- 
fects, has many good enactments, but is blemished by a pedantic 
declaration of rights and duties, which American constitution-makers 
take for granted none can question, and therefore never insert. The 
Commissioners found this provisional government subsisting, Don 
Manuel Puerreydon, Director, and the country tranquil, with the ap- 
pearance at least of stability. Their reception by this officer was, in 
Mr. Rodney's words, "kind and flattering, and they received from every 
citizen a cordial welcome." Many were the novel and interesting ob- 
jects presented by Buenos Ayres to the Commissioners — her regular 
and spacious streets, the Moorish style of architecture of her houses, 
her noble plaza, her stately cathedral and churches, with their gorgeous 
worship, her theatre and bull-fights, her salubrious climate, indicated 
by her name, the brilliant eyes and graceful carriage of her ladies, their 
sallow complexions, bad teeth, and cigarros, and the viaticum, borne by 
a priest, seated in a gilded chariot, drawn by white mules, with a guard 
of black soldiers. Great was the embarrassment of Protestant foreigners 
when they encountered the host ; they avoided, usually, shocking the 
religious feelings of the people not (as Gen. Wilkinson is said once to 
have done) by kneeling, which in them would have been idolatrous 
conformity, but by turning a corner or taking refuge in a store. Who 
has not heard or read of the mighty pampa stretching from Buenos 
Ayres, for a thousand miles, to the Andes, without hill or tree or 
house, except the occasional hut of the herdsman, depressing the 
traveller with the painful sense of utter loneliness, and in its apparently 
endless undulation of verdure, well likened to the long but low swells 
of a great sea, arrested, in an instant, by the fiat of Omnipotence, and 
fixed forever ? Every facility in their power was given by the Director 
and his officials to the Commissioners in collecting the information for 
which they had been sent forth by their government, and as a mark of 
very great respect, on their intercession, a soldier, under sentence of 
death for insubordination, was pardoned.* It would have been in 
character for some of the Roman emperors to have treated an ambas- 
sador they especially desired to honor with a slaughter of gladiators. 
As if to give eclat to the departure of the Commissioners and their arrival 
in the United States, on the eve of their leaving Buenos Ayres was 
received intelligence of the decisive battle and victory of Maypu, won 
by its liberating army under San Martin, which secured the independ- 
ence of Chili. The Commissioners narrowly escaping shipwreck from 
a pampero, in the port of Maldonado, near the mouth of the La Plata, 
where the Congress had anchored to receive bullocks, and calling at St. 

* Niles's Kegister, vol. xiv. p. 326. 



OF GEORGE READ. 241 

Salvadore and Margarctta, arrived at Norfolk, after a favorable passage, 
in July, 1818. Mr. Rodney's report, conimuiiicated to Congress in 
November of that year, is an able paper, and increased iiis reputation. 
Mr. Graham made a separate report, as did Judge Bland, who, with a 
spirit honorable to him, proceeded over land from Buenos Ayres to 
Chili, as the instructions of the Commissioners authorized one or more 
of them to do. Their reports presented the Argentine Republic in less 
favorable aspect than did Mr. Rodney'^s, and they were less sanguine in 
their expectations of the success of the South Americans in their exper- 
iments in self-government, but this difiercnce of their views afforded 
their countrymen better means for aniviug at just conclusions than if 
they had coincided. 

In 1820 Mr. Rodney was a second time elected to the United States 
House of Representatives, and received a respectable vote for the 
Speakership of that body, and in 1822 was elected by the Legislature 
of Delaware to the Senate of the United States, being the first of his 
party who had received this distinction, as ho was the first Democrat 
chosen to the House Representatives. 

In 1822 it was resolved by Congress that the "United Provinces of 
La Plata" ought to be acknowledged by the United States, and in 1823 
Mr. Rodney was appointed Minister Plenipotentiar}^ to their govern- 
ment. The United States had the honor of preceding Mr. Canning in 
his recognition of the South American republics, one of the three 
measures on which he rested his fame as a statesman, and which was 
received with a burst of approbation from every quarter of Great 
Britain. The frigate Congress — Commodore Biddle — was ordered to 
carry Mr. Rodney and his family to Buenos Ayres. They were con- 
veyed l)y a steamer to this ship, at anchor near the mouth of the 
Christiana; an elegant dinner having been given him, a few days previ- 
ous to his embarkation, by citizens of Wilmington and its vicinity, in 
testimony of their respect and esteem for him, at which w^ere present 
Commodore Biddle, and Hugh Nelson, Minister to Spain, who was to 
be landed from the Congress at Cadiz. The Congress sailed from the 
Delaware on the 8th of June, 1823, with a fair wind, and arrived, with- 
out accident, at Cadiz, from which port, having landed Mr. Nelson, she 
sailed on the 3d of August. While the friends of Mr. Rodney — their 
hopes that a sea voyage would renovate his declining health scarcely 
predominating over their fears that they would see him no more — looked 
anxiously for news of his progress, they were astonished by intelligence 
that, by reason of unkind and discourteous treatment experienced from 
Commodore Biddle, he had left with his family the Congress at Rio de 
Janeiro, and taken passage in a merchant vessel for Buenos Ayres. 
Deep indignation was excited and expressed. Commodore Biddle was 
assailed in the newspapers, and defended, with little judgment, which 
was- his misfortune, not his fault, much stress being laid on his sacrifice 
of his own comfort to that of his passengers, and on the unreasonable 
extent of which Mr. Rodney had incumbered his ship with his 
furniture, the homely character of which was sneered at. He was 
even reproached for lumbering the Congress with agricultural imple- 
ments, which he had taken with him for the honor of our mechanics 
and the benefit of the Buenos Ayreans. The Legislature of Delaware 
(January 1st, 1824), by resolution unanimously adopted, requested 



242 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 

their members of Congress to use their best efforts to have an inquiry 
instituted as to the misconduct of Commodore Biddle. This proceed- 
ing would have been more in accordance with justice, and much more 
effective, if, instead of assuming on ex-parte evidence, as it did, the guilt 
of the accused, it had alleged, as was true, that there was ground for 
inquiry. In a biographical sketch of Mr. Eodne}^ this occurrence could 
not, without injustice to his memory, be omitted, but it is with regret I 
mention it. I would do no wrong to the memory of an accomplished 
gentleman and gallant officer, and therefore, from what appeared to be 
the facts of the case, state it thus. Mr. Rodney was careless of forms 
to a fault, and the discomfort from having ladies and many children 
passengers was great, and his effects incumbered the frigate; and the 
commodore, a strict disciplinarian, was fond of having things ship-shape, 
and withal of irritable temperament, while his passengers may have 
been too sensitive. This view palliates, but does not, in my opinion, 
justify the conduct of Commodore Biddle to a distinguished citizen in 
feeble health, to ladies and to children, in some sense his guests, the 
character of which may be inferred from the fact that Mr. Rodney left 
the Congress, a thousand miles short of his destination, which he could 
not have done without great inconvenience and expense. The death of 
Mr. Rodney, and absence of Commodore Biddle, delayed the inquiry, 
and the public mind being soon occupied by newer occurrences, though 
asked, it was not pressed, and there was no further proceeding in this 
case. Let us not forget that Biddle shared with Jones in the capture 
of the Frolic, was the captor of the Penguin, and by masterly seaman- 
ship saved the Hornet from capture by a British seventy-four, so close 
to him at times during the chase as to throw her shot on his deck. His 
grandmother, when a British officer tauntingly said to her (in 1*175), 
"the Americans should not make war, for they could find none to lead 
them," replied, "she had seven sons, whom, if necessary, she would 
lead herself against their oppressors." Two of these sons fell in the 
war of our Revolution;* one being blown up, in command of the Ran- 
dolph frigate, and an officer of great promise, with his crew of three 
hundred men, while attacking with courage bordering on rashness the 
Yarmouth British man-of-war, of sixty-four guns. 

Mr. Rodney presented his credentials as Minister Plenipotentiary 
from the United States on the 27th of December, 1823, to the Governor 
of Buenos Ayres, who exercised, under the constitution of the Argen- 
tine Republic (adopted May 25th, 1819), the function of its chief magis- 
trate. Addresses were delivered by both, and the reception was cordial 
and imposing. 

The hopes, which Mr. Rodney shared with a great majority of his 
countrymen, that the South Americans would prove their capability for 
self-government have proved delusive. Revolutions, their history traced 
in characters of blood, have succeeded revolutions; in their beautiful 
country military despotisms have been overthrown only that others 
should be erected in their stead. "Ijiberty," exclaimed the lovely 
Madame Roland, as her ruthless murderers hurried her to the scaffold, 
"Liberty, what crimes have been perpetrated in thy name !" I add, 



* Letter of Charles Biddle to Aaron Burr, Davis's Life of Burr, vol. ii. p. 235. 



OF GEORGE READ. 243 

what follies, too, and of these none greater than political institutions in 
advance of the intolli.t'cnce of a nation. e^ ^ 

Mr Rodney's health frraduallv declined, and on the lOth of June, 
18->4 at six o'clock A.M., he died tranquilly, surrounded by his fami y. 
The Americans in Buenos Ayres immediately met, and passed resolu- 
tions ap])ropriate to this mournful event. The government decreed that 
a sepulchral monument, to receive Mr. llodney's remains should be 
erected at the public expense. He was interred in the P.nglish cemetery 
followed by his children, his countrymen then in Buenos Ayres and 
many of its citizens, preceded by the officers, civil and military, of the 
AroentineBepublic.its flag with that of the United States enshrouding 
thc\'orpse, which was escorted by a military guard of honor, and 
minute-guns, during the ceremonials, were fired from the fort and at 
its close a volley from the battalion which formed the escort. All vied 
in condolence with the bereaved family and in rendering them kind 

"" (Tnthe margin of the pampa, extending in its grandeur from the La 
Plata to the Andes, moulder, among strangers, the remains of Cesar 
Augustus Rodney. I reiterate the wish, and the hope, before expressed 
in this liall that, bv the act of his Masonic brethren, they may have 
their final resting- place in Wilmington, beneath a monument worthy his 
abilities, his virtues, and his public services. 

Non sibi sed patriae vixit. 



E. 



There was diversity of opinion in the "three lower counties on 
Delaware" as to the propriety and necessity of a change in the existing 
form of their government, upon the recommendation of Congress (iMa\ 
15tb, 1776), as appears by the following instructions and i-emon, 
strances* addressed to representatives in the General Assembly b) 
which the election of the Convention that framed the first Constitution 
of the State of Delaware was recommended: 

Instructions of the Subscribers, Freemen, and Inhabitants of the 
County of Kent on Delaware to the Honorable Cesar Rodney, 
William Killen, John Haslet, Thomas Rodney and \ incent 
Lockerman, Esquires, their Representatives in Assembly. 
Wierea,, The representatives of the united colonies in North America, 
assembled in Congress at Philadelphia on the 15th day ^^ /^I^^^ Cl'^J; 
did first declare "that his Britannic ^^/^J^^^' '^«^"J"f ^7,„ T ' ^en^^ 
Lords and Commons of Great Britain, has, by a late ac of I ^rhament 
excluded the inhabitants of these united colon es from the Fote^t «" «J 
his crown etc., and that it is necessary that the exercise of every kind 
of autborily under the said crown should be totally suppressed, and all 

* Pamphlet of Timsleon, pp. 12-16. 



244 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 

the powers of government exerted under the authority of the people 
of the colonies, etc.; therefore resolved, that it be recommended to 
the respective assemblies and conventions of the united colonies, 
where no government sufficient to the exigency of their affairs has been 
hitherto established, to adopt such government as shall, in the opinion 
of the representatives of the people, best conduce to the happiness and 
safety of their constituents in particular, and America in general ;" 

And whereas, It is our opinion that our present government is not 
"sufficient to the exigency of our affairs," and we have fall faith and 
confidence in the virtue and wisdom of the Congress, and being con- 
vinced of the propriety and necessity of complying with the above re- 
commendation, and not doubting but it will answer the valuable purpose 
thereby intended ; 

We do, therefore, hereby instruct and require you to exert 3"0ur 
utmost virtuous endeavors, in Assembly, to have the same complied 
with, always saving to the freemen and inh.abitants of this colony the 
full enjoyments of their just rights and liberties, agreeable to the Con- 
stitudon, laws, customs, and usages of the said colony, so far as the 
same are not injurious or destructive to the union and general safety 
and happiness of the united colonies. 

But in case the House of Assembly should refuse or neglect to com- 
ply with the above recommendation, we do further hereby instruct and 
require you to exert your utmost virtuous endeavors to get the said 
Assembly to direct the appointment of a convention of this colony, to 
be held for the purpose aforesaid, and not to consist of less than ninety 
members ; and if this shall be denied, that you then withdraw yourselves 
and dissolve the said Assembly. 

We trust that you will discharge your duty, as before directed, with 
the greatest fidelity, and in such a manner as shall best conduce to the 
happiness and safety of your constituents in particular, and America 
in general. 

To THE Honorable the Representatives of the Freemen of the 
Counties of New Castle, Kent, and Sussex, in Delaavare, in 
Assembly met. The Address and Remonstrance of the Sub- 
scribers, Inhabitants of Kent County on Delaware. 

Whe^'eas, To our great concern and surprise we have been informed 
that a paper, called a "Petition, Remonstrance, or Instruction," to the 
House of Assembly of this government, has been handed about among 
the good people of this county, purporting a change in the Constitution 
of tliis government, upon principles which we conceive must be errone- 
ous and unsound, and by no means supported or even countenanced by 
i\w late resolution of the Continental Congress, entered into May 15th, 
177G, upon which resolution, we suppose, said Petition, Remonstrance, 
or Instruction is pretended to be founded, viz., " That it be recommended 
to the respective assemblies and conventions of the united colonies, 
where no government sufficient to the exigency of their affairs has been 
hitherto established, to adopt such government, as shall, in the opinion 
of the representatives of the people, best conduce to the happiness and 
safety of their constituents in particular, and America in general," 
which we conceive must refer only to such colonies as are in confusion 
from the prorogation or dissolution of assemblies; and in no measure 



OF GEORGE READ. 245 

intended to .acct tho good poo,,,.. »/ *1» ^^^^''r ox^'^elet^T'S 

the warmest afloclion . we ^^^ou d t nk it cr 'i ^^^^^^^^ ^^ 

>n"u J.^^^^Io^^-oTr il:;.uS :^t?ds ll;,t.v, a.., as wo .Clove, 

"^^S:rerob.orvethatthopre.„tu^ 

the colonies are involved, wei-c .>>«f "",'» /I f„\'i,"„7es and Ihoil- then 
of tl,e chartered rights and P-' =-, j' ''^-.X 7 hat the changing 
forms of government. And «t ""'""'' '1. , j „ ,.„ntrary to the 

the Constitution at this ent,eal 1-',!;;;;; '<'„'',taf ^"rd^o the^op,,res- 
ayowed l"'-;;!' »J, ^'"'" ^ i*^' ,'^„ ' ,.J Tould tend very nmch to disunite 

and unless '^^^ ^l^one 'n it -^^^^^^^^^^^ ,„^;,„ ,„ ,_ 

:;^:tt;d'rlh 1 1=" "oletlt' couvmslons, often fatal to then- 

'"'w-'fimherbel^'leave to say that if the honorable House should 

i'f "■ r\ ".trwUh'ldeAheVetcteTconveniency or necessity. 
B V'reui i g t in £ own'hands, may continue to e.erc.se then, 
for ihe good o( their constituents; and we, as in duty bound, etc. 

The issue of this controversy appears .''^ /l- /ollowing exU-act from 
"Force's American Archives" (4th Sencs), vol. vi. (a,d. nio), \\ 



883, 884: 

DBLAWAKB ASSEMBLY 



,„ the House of Representatives fojthe Counties of N«- C»,f 
Kent, and Sussex u,,o„ D=l.»™. »' f^^ ^ a cei^fied copv of a vesoln- 
,:toX:^^^^^^^-' ^vhich was, 'by order, read, 
and is as follows, to wit : _ ^^ c..xobks8. May 15th, 1770. 

■■W!,e.reas, His Britannic Majesty, '?<^r^^^i:::ll:,^^^:S:!i 
Commons of Gf^at liritam, has by a late Aa^^^ ^^ ,,.^ 

:.'rl!;;'rS"rlt:: arl:S;Ter^7t.:e hLble petition Of 



246 ^IFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 

these colonies for redress of grievances and reconciliation with Great 
Britain has been or is likely to be given, but the whole force of that 
kingdom, aided by foreign mercenaries, is to be exerted for the destruc- 
tion of the good people of these colonies ; and whereas, it appears 
utterly irreconcilable with reason and good conscience for the people of 
these colonies to take the oath and affirmations necessary for the sup- 
port of any government under the crown of Great Britain, and it is 
necessary that the exercise of every kind of authority under the said 
crown should be totally suppressed, and all the power of government be 
exerted under the authority of the people of the colonies, for the pre- 
servation of internal peace, virtue, and good order, as Avell as for the 
defence of their lives, liberties, and properties against the hostile inva- 
sion, and cruel depredations of their enemies ; therefore 

"Resolved, That it be recommended to the respective assemblies and 
conventions of the colonies, where no governments sufficient for the 
exigencies of their affairs has been hitherto established, to adopt such 
government as shall, in the opinion of their representatives of the 
people, most conduce to the happiness and safety of their constituents 
in particular, and of America in general. 

" Extract from the Minutes. 

" Charles Thomson, Secretary.''^ 

By special order the same Avas read a second time, and, on motion, 
resolved, unanimously, that this House do approve this resolution of 
Congress. 

Saturdaj', June 15th. 

The following preamble and resolution were offered, and unanimou.sly 
adopted : 

Whereas, It has become absolutely necessary for the safety of the 
good people of this colony forthwith to establish some authority ade- 
quate to the exigencies of their affairs, until a new government can be 
formed ; and ichereas, the Representatives of the people, in this As- 
sembly met, alone can and ought, at this time, to establish such tem- 
porary authority ; therefore 

" Resolved, unanimously, That all persons holding any office, civil 
or military, in this colony, on the 13th of June, instant, may and shall 
continue to execute the same, in the name of the government of the 
counties of New Castle, Kent, and Sussex upon Delaware, as they used 
to exercise them in the name of the King [of Great Britain], until a 
new government shall be formed, agreeably to the resolution of Con- 
gress of the fifteenth of May last. 

" Extract from the Minutes. 

"James Booth, Clerk of Assembly." 



OF GEORGE READ. 247 

IF. 
PARTIES IN CONGRESS A.D. 17t5. 

Mr. Adams (Diary, pp. 31, 32) thus dcscrn)es the two parties in 
{'oiig-ross at this time: the favorers of independence, himself, Samuel 
Adams, 11. H. Lee, Wythe, and others, and the cold party, who hesi- 
tated to vote for it. 

Harrison, of Virginia, one of this party, he describes "as an indolent, 
luxurious, heavy gentleman, of no use in Congress or committees, but 
a great embarras.sment to both; a kind of 'nexus utriusquc mundi;' a 
corner-stone in which the walls of both parties in Virginia met. He 
was descended from one of the most ancient, respectable, and wealthy 
families there, and set up in opposition to R. 11. Lee, who was very 
unpopular in Virginia, because, when a very young man, upon his first 
appearance in the House of Burgesses, he moved and urged an inquiry 
into the state of the treasury, by which it appeared that large sums 
had been lent to influential families, who, being thus exposed, never for- 
gave him. Harrison was another Sir John Falstaflf in all things except 
his larcenies and petty robberies, and his conversation disgusting to 
every man of delicacy or decorum. General Washington chose him for 
his confidential correspondent. Harrison, Pendleton, and others showed 
their jealousy of R. H. Lee's intimacy with Hancock (whom therefore 
they courted), and Samuel Adams, and myself, and their party, with 
whom we agreed, and by whom we kept a majority of the Virginia 
delegates with us. Among them were great divisions and jealousies. 
Harrison courted Hancock, and Hancock* Duane, Dickinson, and their 
party, and leaned so partially to them that Samuel Adams became 
very bitter against him. Jay and Wilson, in general, favored dilatory 
measures." — Writings of John Adams (J}\ViV\), vol. i. pp. 220, 517; 
vol. ii. pp. 31, 32, 35, 93. 

* His sobriquets among the Tories were "Soft John," and " King Hancock," 
and "Rosy." — Diaiij of the American Revolution. 



248 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 



CHAPTER IV. 

"Washington recrossos tho Delaware — Cornwallis advances against him— rCannon- 
ade between their armies — Washington niarchesin thenight towards Princeton 
— Battle of Princeton — Death of Mercer — Haslet to the officers — Eesultsof this 
buttle — Position of British and American armies tlirough the winter of and 
until April, 1777 — Adjournment of Congress to Baltimore — Letters of John 
Evans, Thomas Holland, and George Evans to George Read — Messrs. Read, 
John Evans, and Dickinson chosen delegates of tlie State of Delaware to Con- 
gress — Messrs. Evans and Dickinson decline serving — Mr. Dickinson's letter 
to jSIr. Read — Policj- of France and Spain — Letter of Mr. Rodney to Mr. Read — 
Events after AVashington recrossed the Delaware, 29th December, 177G, to 23d 
January, 1777 — Delaware niilitia, under Major Dull', fultils its tour of duty 
and honorably discliarged — General Mifflin's letter to Mr. Read — Notice of 
Major DutT — Special election in Delaware; best places for holding it — Letter 
of Thomas McKean to Mr. Read — Notice of Nicholas Van Dyke ; his letter to 
Mr. Read; delays his acceptance of admiralty judgeship — Congress, at Balti- 
more, adjourns — Nicholas Van Dj-ke and James Sykes elected delegates to 

Congress in room of Dickinson and Evans — Mr. Sj'kes takes his seat; liis letter 
to Mr. Read, and distress at his absence from Congress, and reflections thereon 
— Season for active military operations approaches — Disposition of the American 
army — Mr. Read's active part and influence in the aflairs of Delaware as well 
as in Congress — Letters to him of William Killen — Painful uncertainty as to 
the objects of General Howe's campaign in 1777; Philadelphia his object; 
endeavors to draw Washington from liis strong position ; fails ; determines to 
move his army by sea to head of Delaware or Chesapeake Bays — British fleet 
sails from New York ; no news of it for some time ; British troops disembark 
at Elk ; move forward; Washington advances to meet them ; subsequent move- 
ments of both armies — Battle of Brandy wine — General Sullivan ; remarks upon 
*. his conduct — Speculation in regard to this battle, and incidents — Wilmington, 

'Jic A-'^A Delaware, occupied by British troops — President McKinley captured — Chief 
./ magistracy of Delaware devolves upon Mr. Read ; then in Congress, at Phihi- 

'^ delphia ; his journey through New York to Delaware — Letter of Colonel 
i Bedford to Mr. Read — Crosses the Delaware from Salem, New Jersey — In 

^^ , danger of capture by a British barge — His escape — State of ]iarties in Dela- 
ware — Gloomy state of public affairs — Mr. Read locates his tamily in Cecil 
County, Maryland; why — Thomas McKean's letter to Mr. Read— During his 
absence temporarily assumed Presidency of Delaware — John Dickinson ap- 
pointed brigadier-general; did not act — Incompatible offices — Letter of Theo- 
dore Maurice to Mr. Read ; why hiserted — Alexander Porter persecuted as a 
Toiy ; his letter to Mr. Read — Correspondence relative to President Mc- 
Kinley — Mr. Read's letters to General Washington and Speaker of Congress — 
Thomas JNlcKean's letter to Mr. Read — Disturbed state of Sussc.v County, 
Delaware — Armies retire into winter quarters — British at Philadelphia; 
Americans at Valley Forge ; contrast between them — General Smallwood 
with detachment of Continental troops ordered to Wilmington to command 
there; requisition on State of Delaware for militia to reinforce him; not 
obeyed; Mr. Read's letter to General Washington; prevalence of part}' strife 
— Letter to Mr. Read of AVilliam Hooper, with notice of him — Letter of 
President of Congress to Mr. Read — Notice of Henry Laurens — Thomas 
McKean's letter to Mr. Read (12th February, 1778) — Letter of Washington 
to Mr. Read — Letter of Mr. Read to General Washington — Mr. Read's reply 
to Mr. McKean's letter of 12th February — Mr. McKean's reply to this letter 
— Articles of Confederation ; objections to them ; finally ratified — Mr. Read 



OF GEORGE READ. 249 

(Icclinos Prpsidfiicv of Delaware — Succcfdctl by (";f^ia^ llodiicy — "Sir. Ki'ad'3 
letter to Dr. llcncli— Papor-monoy and its depreciation (note)— rLetter of 
Daniel McKinly — Mr. Read's good offices to effect his exchange — Ajipendix A, 
fairs — Appendi.x B, roll of Captain Clark s militia company — Appendix C, 
occurrences after the battle of Brandywine — Appendix D, letter of a British 
spy — Appendix E, Cheney Clow — Appendix F, Valley Forge — Appendix O, 
('olonel Haslet — Ajipendix II, Thomas McKean — Appendix (J 2, last will of 
Ciesar Kodney ; extract from and letter of, and personal ap]»earai)ce. 

The hopes of the final success of their glorious resistance 
to the attempt of the British government to subjugate them 
by force awakened in the American patriots by the brilliant 
stroke of Washington at Trenton were increased tenlold 
by the still more brilliant one at Princeton. Recrossing 
the Delaware, January 1st, 1777, the troops under his im- 
mediate command being increased to about live thousand 
men by the junction of Generals Mifilin and Cadwallader, 
who were ordered from Bordentown and Crosswix, General 
Washington again occupied Trenton. Lord Cornwallis, 
who lay at Princeton with a body of troops, superior not 
only in number, but in discipline and equipments, marched 
against him. As they approached Trenton, General Wash- 
ington, at 4 o'clock P.M., January 2d, crossed the Assum- 
pinck, a small creek flowing through Trenton, and faced the 
enemy, who attempted, unsuccessfully, to cross this little 
stream, a warm cannonade having been kept up by both 
armies till night closed upon them. When an immediate 
attack upon the Americans was advised by Sir William 
Erskine, Lord Cornwallis is reported to have jocularly said 
" that he need not risk a night assault, for the fox was 
secured, and lie only had to batj Itim, which he could surely 
do next morning." Thus by his lack of promptitude and 
daring this officer lost, as General Howe did at Brooklyn, 
the opportunity of defeating, and probably destroying, the 
American army. General Washington was in a serious 
dilemma. If he kept his position a battle would be in- 
evitable, and the almost certain defeat of his raw troops; 
if he attempted to recross the* Delaware, filled wdth floating 
ice, probably many of his men would be lost, perhaps the 
whole destroyed, Jersey would be again overrun by the 
British troops, and the enormities they had perpetrated 
there re-enacted, and Philadelphia, to the preservation of 
which vast importance was attached, left uncovered. It 
was then Washington showed military genius of the highest 
order. While his camp-fires, affording light for his own 

17 



250 LIFE AND GOBRESPONDENCE 

movements and shrouding them from the British, were 
carefully maintained, his sentries were at their posts, and 
his officers made their rounds, he, as silenth^ as was pos- 
sible, decamped, the roads so soft through the preceding 
day as to have made the march of an army, with artillery, 
over them difficult and tedious, having providentially 
been, just before he moved, hard frozen. Washington 
marched circuitously towards Princeton, where were posted 
the 17th, the 40th, and 55th British Regiments, under 
command of Colonel Mawhood, lioping to beat them, and 
then to move, by a rapid march, upon New Brunswick, 
where were the baggage and stores, to a large amount, 
of the British army, and, as the result of his manoeuvre, 
to compel the enemy to forego his march upon Phila- 
delphia, and to recover New Jersey. The 55th and 17th 
British Regiments, on their march to join Cornwallis, 
were encountered by the advance of the American army, 
under General Mercer, about sunrise, near Princeton, 
and a spirited and severe contest ensued, in which fell 
Mercer and Haslet, Neal, Potter, and Fleming. Wash- 
ington soon supported his advance with the main body 
of his troops, and the British were defeated with the loss 
of one hundred killed and three hundred taken prison- 
ers, the loss of the Americans being not so much. If we look 
only to the numbers engaged and the loss sustained in the 
battle of Princeton, we niay justly regard it as insignificant; 
but if we consider the generalship of the American com- 
mander and its results, it may be ranked among important 
and decisive battles. The early-morning slumbers of Lord 
Cornwallis were disturbed, and perhaps a pleasing dream 
of " bagging the fox" dispelled, by the booming of cannon 
in the direction of Princeton, and trembling for the safety 
of New Brunswick, he retreated there by a forced march, 
and Lord Howe was compelled to relinquish all his posts in 
Jersey except that town, and>Amboy, at the mouth of the 
Raritan, where, by concentrating his troops, he kept open 
his communication with New York, and his army in a 
favorable position for a movement upon Philadelphia, should 
it become expedient. Washington, through the winter, with 
his fragment of an army, reinforced by the militia of Penn- 
sylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware, who went and came 
as they pleased, restrained the British to the two posts 



OF OEORGE READ. 251 

they held, skirmishing constantly with their foraging- 
parties, threatening attacks on their lines, covering Jersey 
from reoccupation, and animating its citizens to avenge 
the outrages of the Hessians upon their persons and their 
property. 

Such was the position of the contending armies through 
the winter of 1777, and until the month of April of that 
year. 

Congress feeling themselves insecure in Philadelphia, 
which was menaced by General Howe, adjourned, in De- 
cember, to Baltimore. It appears by the following letter 
from Mr. Evans that Mr. Read did not immediately pro- 
ceed to that city, his attendance being necessary in the 
Legislature of Delaware, which sat in January: 

"January 6th, 17T7. 

" Dear Sir, — My mind is so fluctuated with the present 
appearance of affairs, sometimes elevated and at other times 
depressed, that I cannot form any precise judgment to 
govern my own conduct by ; but upon a full consideration 
of our present circumstances, notwithstanding many diffi- 
culties oflter themselves, I think it will be advisable for the 
Delaware State, at this meeting of the General Assembly, 
to complete their system of government by appointing the 
several executive officers; for while matters lie in their 
present unsettled situation government will be weak, and 
not able to use its own internal strength, and from appear- 
ance a vigorous exertion must be made the ensuing season 
or all our past labor, with our liberty, will be in great 
danger [of being lost], the people will become uneasy from 
many causes, and attribute all to the leaders of the people : 
and by having the government established upon the new 
system some good may be derived that may prove of more 
consequence than we are yet able to discover, 

" I have wrote to Mr, Jones, informing him of my desire 
that the General Assembly would appoint some other person 
in my stead to represent them in Congress, which I hope 
will be complied with. My state of health at present is 
such that I could not with conveniency go abroad. I have 
likewise mentioned two or three gentlemen to Mr. Jones, 
in case officers are appointed, for justices of the peace, which 
he will show you, and [1] shall be pleased if it meets with 



252 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 

your approbation. I am, sir, with great regard, your sin- 
cere friend and humble servant, 

''John Evans." 

The writer of the letter that next follows was a captain 
in the Delaware regiment, and connected with Mr. Read 
by his marriage with Joanna, daughter of the Reverend 
jEneas Ross. 

" MoRRiSTOWN, 10th January, 17*77. 

" Sir, — General Washington has ordered me to remain 
with the army some time longer, until the enemy retire 
into winter quarters,- when I shall immediately rejoin the 
regiment at New Castle. I am sorry to inform you of the 
death of Colonel Haslet, who fell at Princeton. I am the 
only one here belonging to the Delaware regiment, — am 
very much fatigued with the campaign, — and having lost 
my baggage, shall be happy to return home to recruit. We 
are just informed that the enemy are retreating for winter 
quarters. 

" I am, sir, your most humble servant, 

"Thomas Holland."* 

George Evans, serving in a battalion of Delaware militia, 
wrote to Mr. Read from 

"Head-quarters, Morristown, January 16th, 1777. 

" Dear Sir, — After a march of four weeks our little bat- 
talion is now arrived at Morristown. Where we are to 
march to next is not yet made known to us. We have 
parties of the army stationed in different places, for five or 
six miles round this place. I make not the least doubt 
that you have heard of the different engagements at Tren- 
ton and Princeton, therefore will omit mentioning the par- 
ticulars at this time, more than you may be assured that 
we have taken and killed above two thousand of the enemy 
since Christmas, [and] our scouting-parties are still bring- 
ing in some strolling persons, which gives great spirits. A 
gentleman from New York, that called at my lodging, in- 
forms me that the Tories there are going over to Long 

* Captain Thomas Holland was a native of England, had served in 
the British army, and was killed in the battle of (iermantown. — Dela- 
ware Gazelle, No. 21G, 8th August, 1789. 



OF GEORGE BEAD. 253 

Island, and that the enemy had evacuated F(>rts Washing- 
ton and Lee, and had taken oft' all tlie heavy cannon, also 
that a party of General Heath's people had taken possession 
of Harlem. It is generally reported here that the Hessians 
are all ooing on Staten Island, and have refused to continue 
out any longer, on account of so many of them having been 
taken and killed, and one hundred and fifty wagons have 
been sent from Brunswick to Amboy, witli their baggage. 
under guard of three hundred men, and that a party of our 
people had fallen on their rear, scattered the guards, and 
taken several of the wagons. It is generally expected that 
the English troops will evacuate Brunswick, and leave us 
in quiet possession of Jersey. Our little battalion is much 
diminished : some have deserted shamefully when we had 
gained great advantage over our enemies, and others are 
disabled for service by sickness, [so] that out of two hun- 
dred and sixty men we have not more than one hundred 
and twenty left. I have had the good fortune, through 
God's mercy, to be very hearty and well ever sitice I left 
home, and hope to see you in a few weeks. My compli- 
ments to you, Mrs. Read, and all our friends, from your 
friend and humble servant, etc., 

" George Evans. 
" George Read, Esq., New Castle." 

The 11th article of the Constitution of Delaware, adopted 
20th September, 1776, provided that the delegates to the 
Congress of the United »States should be chosen annually by 
joint ballot of both Houses of the General Assembly, and 
in January, 1777, George Read, John Dickinson, and John 
Evans were thus chosen by that body delegates to the 
Continental Congress.''' Messrs. Dickinson and Evans de- 
clined this high and honorable trust. Mr. Dickinson's rea- 
sons for so doing appear in the following letter. 

"New Castle, January 20th, 1777. 

"My dear Sir, — The principal reason of my coming to New 
Castle from Kent was personally to acknowledge to the Gen- 

* Journal of Congress, April 4th, 1777. 



254 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 

eral Assembly of this State the deeply grateful sense I feel 
of the honor they have conferred upon me by their appoint- 
ing me a delegate to Congress, and to inform them of the 
reasons that have prevented me from taking my seat. 

"When I lately went to Philadelphia I expected to re- 
turn so quickly as to find the Assembly still sitting. I 
have received advice from home that my house has been in 
danger of being burnt by an accident, and that Mrs. Dick- 
inson is in great distress of mind. I myself am exceedingly 
indisposed, with a violent cold, and therefore think it neces- 
sary to hasten down immediately, so that I hope I shall 
stand excused for not expressing, in the most respectful 
manner I could think of, my very great obligations to 
this government. 

"I beg of you, sir, to acquaint both Houses that when I 
received notice of their appointment I was in a very low 
state of health, which continued till the removal of the 
ConGjress to Baltimore. I then was forced to attend my 
wife and child into the country, where I was of necessity 
detained to provide them conveniences absolutely requisite 
till my journey to this place, and now it will by no means 
suit me to be absent from them in Baltimore. 

"In addition to these reasons, I will mention to you, my 
friend, that I know it to be impossible for me to render any 
essential service to my unhappy country at this time. More 
blood must be poured out, and more calamities endured, 
before truth and sound policy will have any weight where 
they ought to prevail. I therefore beg leave, with all possi- 
ble regard, to resign my place as a delegate. I have con- 
versed on this subject with two of our friends in this town. 

They will speak to you upon it. Mr. M will inform 

you of the news, and of what relates to, my dear sir, your 
affectionate friend, 

"John Dickinson. 

"Please to present my compliments to Mrs. Read. I 
gave Hines a letter for you." 

Mr. Dickinson writes very soon after to Mr. Read in a 
desponding tone, caused or increased, it is probable, by his 
sickness and the late unpleasant occurrences in his family, 
from 



OF GEORGE READ. 255 

"Kent, January 22d, ItYT. 

"My dear Sir, — This winter is the only time that will be 
allowed us to think of peace before we suffer indescribable 
calamities. It ought not to be neglected. I beg leave to 
press this upon you. Do exert yourself The event will 
certainly prove that France and Spain are more afraid of 
our becoming a great and flourishing empire than of our 
being conquered by Great Britain, — perhaps they may try 
to prevent both these events. I think the very vigor of 
our resistance in this our infancy will alarm those two 
powers. 

"God bless you! I am forced to conclude, being very 
sick. 

"Your ever affectionate, 

"John Dickinson. 

"George Read, Esquire, in New Castle." 

The sagacity of the last of Mr. Dickinson's above sur- 
mises is proved by the facts that France and Spain, hating 
Great Britain, and jealous of her power, did try, and suc- 
cessfully, to prevent her subjugation of her colonies, and 
then endeavored, during the negotiations for peace in 1782, 
"to coop them up," as Franklin said, "within the Alleghany 
Mountains,"'^- and to deprive them of the fisheries, design- 
ing to secure them and the western country to themselves, 
or to barter them to England for equivalents, thus prevent- 
ing the colonies from being formidable. This selfish and 
unworthy design was defeated by the sound judgment, 
patrioti>nii, and boldness of our envoys in signing the pre- 
liminary treaty with England^ without consulting the Count 
de Vergenes, as they were instructed to do. 

Caesar Rodney, hoping to encourage the Delaware militia 
that had marched to reinforce General Washington, was on 
his way to them; when at Philadelphia, he was ordered to 
Trenton to take command there.f and from that town wrote 
as follows to Mr. Read : 



* Pitkin's History of the United States, vol. ii. p. 141). 
f liiography of the Signers of the Declaration of Independence, vol. 
iv. pp. 331, 832. 



256 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 

"January 23d, 1777. 
" My dear Sir, — If I may judge of you by myself, I dare 
venture to say that you are anxious to know what is going 
on in this part of the American world, and as it gives me 
pleasure to satisfy the anxious mind, [I] would have wrote 
to you long ere this, but accounts of everj^thing that 
happens are so various and perplexing that a man who 
would wish to support any degree of credit dare relate 
hardly anything he hears. The first engagement between 
us and the enemy, after the retreat from the North River, 
was at Trenton, where I am not only playing the general 
but commander-in-chief. It happened the day after Christ- 
mas, and you well know the circumstances attending it. 
On the Sunday following, which was the 29th of the same 
month, General Washington passed the Delaware to Tren- 
ton again, and on Thursday, the second of January, had 
an advanced post of three or four field-pieces, covered with 
six hundred musketry, attacked on the hill next towards 
Princeton by (as the inhabitants of this town think) a body 
of about five thousand English and Hessians. In this 
attack there was very little done but discharging field-pieces 
at each other. Washington continuing to retreat in and 
through the town ; the others, commanded by General Lord 
Cornwallis, endeavoring to flank them, till Washington got 
over the bridge in the town, and on the side where the 
main body of his army lay, and where, by his order, they 
had, during the time of his retreat, been fixing a number 
of cannon. As soon as these cannon were discharged, the 
enemy retreated quite back to the first-mentioned hill, where 
they remained till nine o'clock the next morning, expect- 
ing to be reinforced, and then to fight it out. Washington 
with his army lay in the field and woods, between the town- 
creek and the river, till about two o'clock in the morning, 
and after having caused the fires to be Avell made up, 
marched his army round the head of the creek into the 
Princeton road, and so to Princeton, where, a little on this 
side the town, thej^ met the party coming to reinforce those 
at Trenton. Here a warm engagement came on, first with 
General Mercer's brigade, who were far advanced, and 
being overpowered with numbers, were obliged to retreat, 
after having pushed bayonets. This gave the remainder 
of Washington's army time to form, and, after giving the 



OF GEOliOE READ. 257 

enemy two rounds, obliged tliem to retreat and immediately 
after to run. By this means they lost all their baggage, 
and only saved themselves by our people being so fatigued 
as not to be able to keep pace with them, Washington, 
after following them a little beyond Kingston, fded off to 
the left, and then made for Morristown. Mr. Tucker, of 
this town, told me he never saw men so filled with astonish- 
ment as the English officers on finding that Washington's 
army was gone. [They] wondered how he could have got 
over the river without being discovered, etc. He says that 
between eight and nine o'clock that morning two of the 
British officers came to his house, asked for breakfast, and 
just as they had poured out a dish of coffee heard the can- 
non, and immediately left it, thinking, as they heard the 
cannon so very plain, that Washington had engaged their 
body. However, [they] very soon marched off. In this 
last-mentioned engagement we took about two hundred and 
thirty prisoners, and at Trenton, the day before, thirty. 
Since this General Maxwell has taken, at EHzabethtown, 
one hundred and twenty prisoners, and all their baggage, 
to a considerable amount. Soon after he took Spanktown, 
about four miles from EHzabethtown, towards Amboy, on 
the. Sound, where he took a few prisoners, a thousand 
bushels of salt, and some baggage of value. Colonel Gur- 
ney, who was sent by General Putnam, with five hundred 
men, on to Monmouth, has taken a very large quantity of 
stores that were lodged there and guarded bj^ Skinner's 
Jersey volunteers. Forty wagons' load of them have 
arrived at Princeton, and a great quantity of cloths and 
other English goods. There was a skirmish on Monday 
last between one of our outposts and a superior number of 
the enemy [in which] our people drove them, and took 
thirty-one wagons and sixty-five horses, and have brought 
them safe in. It is said by those who come from the camp 
every day that our army increases very fast. I believe it 
does increase some, though great numbers are leaving it. 
Sure I am, if none would leave it for three weeks to come, 
there would be enough to eat the enemy up. Our Dela- 
ware militia, in number two hundred and thirty-eight, I 
sent to Princeton the day before yesterday, and yesterday 
[they] were ordered from there by General Putnam to 
head-quarters. I shall leave this to-morrow, and have the 



258 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 

pleasure to inform you that I have not been in the least 
unwell since T left home, not even with the asthma. In 
short, I every now and then conceit I grow fat. You may 
readily suppose there is nothing very pleasing in a cold 
winter campaign, and yet, if I could but see those Parlia- 
mentary robbers off, and my old friend Livingston restored 
to his government, I should be happy. Good God, what 
havoc they have made ! He that has not seen it can have 
no idea of it. The dead bodies of Colonel Haslet* and 
Major Morris are here, on their way to Philadelphia for 
interment. Thus ends a history [to read] which, perhaps, 
will give you much more trouble than real satisfaction. 
However, be that as it may, you must take it as the poor 
man took his wife, and permit me to say, I am, with the 
greatest respect, your most obedient and most humble 
servant, 

"CiESAR RODNEY.f 

" George Read, Esquire, at New Castle." 

Major Duff returned home in the winter of 1777 with 
the detachment of Delaware militia that had completed 
their term of service in Jersey, bearing the very honorable 
testimonial of their good conduct in the following letter 
from General Mifflin to Mr. Read: 

Philadelphia, 31st January, HVT. 
" Dear Sir, — I have the pleasure to inform you that the 
detachment of Delaware militia, commanded by Major 
Duff,t from your State, have served the term of their en- 
listment with credit to themselves and satisfaction to me, 
under whose command, in New Jersey, they happened to 
serve. 



* For a notice of Colonel Haslet, see Appendix G. 

f See Appendix G 2. 

I On the march of General Howe from the head of Chesapeake Bay 
to Philadelphia, in 1^77, a skirmish occurred between an advanced party 
of his army and a detachment of Delaware militia, at Cooch's Bridge, 
in New Castle County. I have heard, when very young, an old bachelor 
uncle give an account of this affair, at which he was present, and which 
he called the " battle of Cooch's Bridge." I recollect nothing of the 
account, except that Major Duff was in the battle, behaved with much 
courage, and had his horse shot under him. He rose to the rank of 
colonel in the Delaware militia, and was sheriff of New Castle County. 



OF GEORGE READ. 259 

•' The officers in particular deserve the thanks and esteem 
of their country for the readiness shown by them to turn 
out on all occasions. Major Duff, by a mistake of orders, 
was prevented from joining me in the march to Trenton ; 
but I have every cause to believe that he exerted himself 
on all occasions when his duty and my orders were clearly 
made known to him, and I do not recollect one single in- 
stance in which his spirit and zeal were not equal to those 
of any other officer of my brigade. 

"I have the honor to be, very respectfully, yowv obedient 
servant, 

"Thomas Mifflin, Brigadier-General. 

"To the Honorable George Read, Esquire, at Wilming- 
ton." 

As the 27th article of the Constitution of Delaware 
£tdopted in 1776 provided that the elections for memlDers of 
the General Assembly should be held October 1st in every 
year after 1777, the elections, as to the time of holding 
which Mr. McKean asked Mr. Read's opinion in the fol- 
lowing letter, were, I suppose, special ones, to fill vacancies 
in the General Assembly (as provided in article 5 of the 
above constitution), made, I conjecture, by the acceptance 
by members of that body of offices incompatible with their 
seats therein : 

" Dear Sir, — I have waited with impatient expectation 
a letter from you respecting the elections in the several 
counties. I have thought that it would be best to have 
them all on the same day, and would propose Fridaj^ the 
25th day of April next. In this appointment we shall 
avoid all fairs,'-' courts, etc., which appears to me proper. 

" Please to write to me by the very first opportunity 
whether you approve of my proposition, and inform me 
how you expect to forward the writs to the sheriffs of 
Kent and Sussex ; if by express one may answer. 

" I am, dear sir, your most obedient servant, 

" TnoMAS McKean. 

"Newark, March 29th, 1777." 

Nicholas Van Dyke, the writer of the letter which next 
* See Appendix A. 



260 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 

follows, was of Dutch descent, a lawyer of eminence, after- 
wards Governor of Delaware, and recently appointed dele- 
gate to Congress and judge of admiralty. I have heard 
from my father that his attendants offering, when he was 
dying, to raise him, he motioned to them to take the pillow 
from his head. 

" Sir, — Your favor, by Colonel Cantwell, was handed me 
last eve[ning]. I find by the section of the Constitution 
you refer to an acceptance of [my appointment as] judge 
of admiralty would vacate my seat in Council. This I did 
not attend to before the election ; but soon after I examined 
that section, and thereupon was immediately determined 
what part to act : to wit, not to accept, and for this reason, 
that as the electors of this county have thought proper to 
confide so much in me as to elect me to a seat in Council, 
I do not choose to accept any office, however lucrative, 
which would vacate that seat, unless I was convinced that 
I could in some other department render more important 
service to my constituents, which I am persuaded I cannot 
do as judge of admiralty; but as some trouble may be 
saved by your not issuing a writ for an election of a mem- 
ber of Council at present, if I was determined to accept, 
you may, if you choose, consider my answer as a delay of 
acceptance, and then when the Assembly meets I shall 
regularly give them my answer to their appointment. 

" I am pleased to hear Mr. Sykes is gone to Congress. 
The very distressing dispensation of Providence to me since 
I saw you, and the unavoidable necessity I have thereby 
been reduced to, has hitherto prevented my leaving home, 
nor can I possibly go until the first of the week after next. 
'" I am, sir, your very humble servant, 

" Nicholas Van Dyke. 

"7th April, 1777. 

" To the Honorable George Read, Esquire." 

Congress adjourned at Baltimore, February 27th, to meet 
in Philadelphia on the 4tli day of March. 

John Dickinson and John Evans havino; declined to serve 
as delegates to Congress from the State of Delaware, Nicho- 
las Van Dyke and James Sykes, Esquires, were appointed 
in their room, and Mr. Sykes appeared in Congress, and 



OF GEOROE READ. 261 

presented his credentials on the 4th of April/=' He wrote 
to Mr. Read, in ahnost intolerable distress, from 

" Philadelphia, April lOtli, 1777. 

" Dear Sir, — Yesterday it was agreed in Congress that 
the subject of the Articles of Confederacy should be taken 
up on Monday next, and that two days in each week should 
be employed therein, until that work should be completed. 
As this is a matter of the utmost importance, it is certainly 
necessary that our State should be fully represented, espe- 
cially as I am by no means competent to the task. I there- 
fore most ardently wish you would give your attendance in 
Congress, and beg you would write to Mr. Van Dyke, press- 
ing his immediate repair hither. I am in a most disagree- 
able situation, a stranger to every person, unable to speak 
my sentiments in Congress, and no colleague to confer with 
on any subject that may concern our State. There has 
already a matter been determined which, I am afraid, will 
throw the whole county of Sussex into confusion and dis- 
order: I think it is the report from the Board of War that 
an independent company shall be raised in that county, to 
be stationed at Lewistown, that Harry Fisher shall have 
the command; [and] if he refuse, he shall have at least the 
appointment of the subaltern officers. This was brought 
in immediately on my taking my seat in Congress, and 
though I utterly disapproved the measure, as far as respected 



* Ix Council, February 22d, 1777. 

Whereat^, Nicholas Van Dyke and James Sykes, Esquires, have been 
chosen by joint ballot of boti) Houses of the General Assembly to repre- 
sent the Delaware State in tl)c Continental Congress, in the room and 
stead of John Dickinson and John p]vans, Esquires ; 

Rcfiolved, That they, together with George Read, Esquire, or any one 
or more of them, are hereby fully authorized and empowered, for and in 
behalf of this State, to concert, agree to, and execute any measure which 
they or ho, together with a majority of the Continental Congress, shall 
judge necessary for the defence, security, interest, and welfare of this 
State in particular, and America in general, with power to adjourn to 
such times and places as shall appear most conducive to the i)ublic 
welfare and advantage. Sent for concurrence. Eodem die, in Assembly 
read and concurred. 

Extract from the Minutes. 

Slaytor Cl.\y, Clerk of the Council. 

Journal of Congress, vol. iii. p. 87. 



262 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 

Fisher, I could not open my mouth in objection.* This, 
sir, shows the necessity of some person being here who has 
the inclination and power to object to and show the im- 
propriety of such appointments. I am totally unfit for it, 
and am miserable on the occasion. 

"From what we hear from head-quarters it seems to be 
the prevailing opinion that the enemy intend to [move] to 
Philadelphia in a very short time, that the fleet are coming 
into this river, and that boats are preparing for the army to 
cross the same. 

"I should be exceedingly sorry to press you upon a sub- 
ject that I know at this time is disagreeable, — I mean your 
attendance here; but it appears to me to be indispensably 
necessary to our State that you should be in Congress : with 
respect to myself it is so much so that without your attend- 
ance I cannot think of staying, — alone I will not. I hope 
you will excuse this incoherent scrawl. Please to present 
my best compliments to Mrs. Read. It would give me great 
pleasure to receive a line from you. I am, in the mean time, 
dear sir, your most obedient, humble servant, 

"James Sykes. 

"For George Read, Esquire, Wilmington. 
" Favored by John Evans, Esquire." 

Mr. Sykes, judging from his letter, — its style, orthography, 
and penmanship, — was well educated, and we must believe, 
from the fact of his appointment to Congress, not only 
highly respectable but influential. His constituents, per- 
haps, thought that, as his colleagues were lawyers, his not 
being a speaker would not matter. If they so thought, 
they were mistaken; but he might, and I have no reason 

* " The Board of War brought in a report, which was taken into 
consideration : Whereupon, Ref^olved, That blank commissions be sent 
to Henry Fisher of Ijewistown, with orders to raise, on the Continental 
establishment, an independent company, for the safeguard of the pilots, 
and the persons and goods of other well-aftected inhabitants and sub- 
jects of these States, residing or being near Lewistown, and the coasts 
of Delaware Bay; and that Mr. Fisher be informed that if he chooses 
to accept the command of the company. Congress will confirm him 
therein; but if he should decline the acceptance thereof, that he should 
be requested to nominate a proper person to fill that station, and that 
in either case he nominate the subalterns." — Journal of Co»grei>s, vol. 
iii. p. 89. 



OF GEORGE READ. 263 

to doubt he did, by voting with judgment and integrity, 
and on committees, serve them well. Still, his situation, as 
he describes it, — that of a man out of place, — is pitialjle in- 
deed. He was in an assembly more imposing (august may 
not be too strong a word) tlian any he ever before had sat 
in, without colleagues, knowing no one. A measure was pro- 
posed, he disapproved it, because it would probably disturb 
a whole county of his State; all eyes were turned to the 
delegate from Delaware as the member from whom they 
had a right to expect full and reliable information on the 
pending resolution, his self-possession was utterly lost, his 
tongue was paralyzed; ashamed and mortified, he sat mute, 
and the resolution was adopted. Thomas McKean, in a 
letter to Mr. Read of December Gth, 1777 (see jooa^), says, 
"The honorable attachment of James Sykes, Esquire, to 
the virtuous and glorious cause in which his country is 
engaged, will no doubt induce him to give his immediate 
attendance in Congress." From this passage I infer that 
Mr. Sykes was an ardent Whig. Mr. Read was in his 
seat in Congress April 25th,* when he was appointed 
with Messrs. Roberdeau and Sergeant "to confer with the 
President and Council of Delaware, and enforce the neces- 
sity of calling out fifteen hundred of the militia of that 

State."t 

The season for active operations had now come. What 
would be the enemy's plan of campaign ? Would Burgoyne 
transport his army, by sea, to New York, or, capturing 
Ticonderoga, force his "way to Albany, and get the command 
of the Hudson? and would General Howe co-operate with 
him, or would he move against Philadelphia? It was 
necessary that the Americans should be prepared to defend 
Ticonderoga, the Highlands of New York, and Philadelphia 
against two armies, superior not only numerically, but in 
discipline and equipment. Washington so posted his troops 
as to make them available for the defence of the points the 
British might choose to attack. The northern army was 
posted between Ticonderoga and Peekskill, and there was 
a detachment at Peekskill from which the northern army 
could be reinforced, while the junction of this detachment 



* And he may have been in it sooner, 
f Journal of Congress, vol. iii. p. 124. 



264 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 

with the troops under Washington's immediate command 
could be effected without difficulty. Washington's army, 
which he had endeavored to increase by every means in his 
power (its effective men being about five thousand), was in 
May drawn out of its winter quarters, and posted in a 
fortified camp at Middlebrook, behind and near the road 
that led from New Brunswick to Philadelphia. Painful 
was the suspense in which, for several weeks, the Americans 
were held. 

Mr. Read, while sharing with his colleagues in Congress 
the burden of Continental affiiirs, was at the same time 
taking an active and leading part in those of Delaware.'-" 
The organization of the courts constituted by the Constitu- 
tion of Delaware adopted in 1776 had been delayed hy its 
disturbed condition, and the next following letter shows 
what had been done towards accomplishing it: 

"Dover, July 19th, 1777. 

"Dear Sir, — General Rodney, last evening, delivered 
me a commission from the President, constituting me Chief 
Justice of the Delaware State, as also another appointing 
me, with Messrs. Evans and Cook, Justices of the Court of 
Oyer and Terminer and General Jail Delivery of the same 
State, by the last of which I flatter myself Mr. Evans has 
agreed to accept of a seat in those courts; and, therefore, I 
shall take without delay the necessary qualification, and 
enter upon the performance of the duties of the places 
assigned me; but how reputably for myself or advantage- 
ously for the State I shall execute the arduous task. Heaven 
only knows. However, the scarcity of proper persons to 
fill every department, if it does not make my undertaking 
those affairs absolutely necessary, will, 'at least, justify the 
measure. 

"The President, in his letter to General Rodney accom- 
panying these commissions, mentions the necessity of hold- 
ing a Court of Oyer and Terminer speedily for the trial of 
some State criminals now confined in Dover jail, and I am 
informed that there are some others confined in the jail at 



* His name appears in the " List" (Appendix B) returned June 24th, 
1777, by Captain Clark, of able-bodied associators "ready and willing 
to mai'ch" against the enemy. 



OF GEOBQE READ. 265 

New Castle, charged with other capital offences. I shall, 
therefore, take order forthwith for the removal of those in 
Dover to New Castle, in order to their l^eing tried in that 
county where they are said to have committed the offences. 
But previous to the holding a court for this purpose, I shall 
be obliged to you for informing me when will be the most 
proper time to hold it, in regard to the officers and the in- 
habitants of the county in general? Will Monday the 4th 
of next month be too soon? Pray give me your opinion 
by the first opportunity of a conveyance. Or if you will 
mention the business to Mr. Evans, I shall agree to any 
time he may think proper to appoint for holding this court, 
and for that end he may make out the precept, returnable 
what day he pleases, and send it to me in order to my 
aigning it. 

"You will please also to consult Mr. Yeats whether he 
would choose to be appointed, or rather continued, clerk of 
the Supreme Court for the county of New Castle. I have 
already had an application for the appointment to this 
office from another gentleman, to whom I have given a 
grant of it in case Mr. Yeats should not incline to be con- 
tinued, but if he should, I am very willing to give him the 
preference. 

" We have been for some time past apprehensive of being 
rudely disturbed, on some unlucky night, at Dover by some 
of those bullying, swearing fellows belonging to the men-of- 
war, encouraged thereto by bad men among ourselves, but 
General Rodney is now taking some measures for our better 
security. Ever since the apprehending the criminals in 
our jail, mentioned above, we have been threatened by the 
men-of-war's people with the most direful vengeance, through 
resentment for confining their friends in prison. 
"I am, sir, your most humble servant, 

"William Killen. 

"George Read, Esquire." 

The letter next introduced, and indeed Mr. Read's cor- 
respondence, indicates his influence, the confidence reposed 
in the soundness of his judgment, and his readiness to ex- 
ercise it for the benefit of his friends and the public. 

18 



266 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 

"Dover, August 9th, 177 1. 
"Dear Sir, — Your letter of the 20th ult., if the whole 
tenor of my conduct through life has not sufficiently evinced 
it, informs me that Mr. Theodore Maurice, of your town, 
was perfectly right when he told me, about seventeen years 
ago, 'that I was not a cunning man.' I will explain myself. 
Some weeks since a commission appointing me Chief Justice 
of this State, and another, constituting myself and Messrs. 
John Evans and John Cook Justices of the Courts of Oyer 
and Terminer and General Jail Delivery, to be held for the 
several counties of this State, came to General Rodney's 
hands; with which he acquainted me. Upon seeing Mr. 
Evans's name in this letter, I took it for granted that he had 
agreed to this appointment, and I therefore, without hesita- 
tion, accepted of both commissions, took the necessary 
qualifications, and got to dealing with the Tories, and have 
been engaged with them almost ever since. Now, sir, you 
know that I had made Mr. Evans's acceptance a condition 
precedent to that of my own, and yet without any other 
evidence of his acceptance than barely seeing his name in 
the commission of Oyer and Terminer, I uncunningly swore 
in, and have fully proved that Mr. Maurice was not mis- 
taken in his opinion of me mentioned above; indeed, your 
letter not only satisfies me that Mr. Evans has not yet 
qualified, under those commissions, but has caused a great 
doubt in me that he never will. 

"This new task is really too arduous for me. In essaying 
to execute it I find both a want of knowledge and firmness 
of mind — the latter most. There have been about forty 
persons, men and women, apprehended in the Head of Sus- 
sex and the lower part of New Castle on suspicion of trading 
, with the men-ofwar in Delaware [Bay]. Some of these I 
discharged, after examining of them, some I let go upon 
bail, others I committed, but have since admitted them to 
bail, except two, now confined in New Castle jail. As to 
one of these two last, namely, Jonas Edingfield, I am much 
importuned by his sister and other relations to admit him 
to bail also. His offence is furnishing the men-of-war with 
fresh provisions. He has confessed the fact. Is not this 
act an aiding and comforting the enemies of the State ? I 
have ventured to call it so in my proceedings with these 
offenders. I have no friend here of whose knowledge 1 can 



OF GEORGE READ. 267 

avail myself in any cliiTiculty that occurs to me in my new 
olFice, and I find myself often at a loss in endeavoring to do 
the duties of it. Add to this that a milkiness of disposition 
bears down the little understanding I have, and they main- 
tain a perpetual war between them. Pray inform me whether 
I ought to admit Edingfield to bail. He has an old mother, 
a wife, and seven children, and his circumstances but low. 
Also, what offence is he guilty of who is apprehended with 
live stock and sundry other provisions on his way to traffic 
with the enemies of the State, and acknowledges that that 
was* his intention? Your answer to these questions will 
much oblige a quondam brother in distress. I intend toj^ro- 
pose the holding of a court of Oyer and Terminer for Kent 
County, about the first week in next month, to my brother, 
I wish I could say my brethren. The apprehending these 
Tories is really like cutting off the hydra's head. I hear 
Colonel Richardson has seized several of them. Captain 
Murphy has made prize of a Tory's boat, who had given 
out that the enemy had taken her, loaded with grain, going 
to Pliiladelphia, some time last June; but it has lately been 
discovered to me, on oath, that he voluntarily fell in with 
a man-of-war's boat at the mouth of Mispillion, has made 
a voyage to New York with her since, and carried on a 
constant trade with the enemy. I have also made out pre- 
cepts for seizing a number of those trading-gentry in Sussex. 
I intend to send herewith the commission of Oyer and 
Terminer, and earnestly request you to write to Mr. Evans 
to qualify and urge him thereto by putting him in mind of 
the distraction and anarchy that prevail in our little State 
for Avant of the due execution of the laws. Sure he cannot 
be indifferent to a measure so interesting to his country. 

" I am, dear sir, your most humble servant, 

''William Killen.''= 

" George Read, Esquire." 



* My lack of information in regard to William Killen has, in some 
measure, been lately and unexpectedly supplied. 

In the grave-yard of the Presbyterian church, Dover, Delaware, 
which I lately visited, to sec the monuments of two distinguished citi- 
zens of my native State, recently erected there, while scanning with 
interest (July 5th, 1859) the tombs around me, I came upon an an- 
cient stone, which covers the grave of AVilliam Killen, and read upon 
it that " he was born in Ireland a.d. 1722 ; landed in America a.d. 1737 ; 



268 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 

Sir William Howe's object in the campaign of 1777 was 
Philadelphia. His first plan was to march to that city 
through Jersey, fighting the American army, if it attacked 
or could be forced to engage him. He deferred opening the 
campaign till the countr}' could afford food and forage for 
his soldiers and horses, and was delayed until the latter end 
of May by the non-arrival of tents and camp-equipage from 
Europe. Enrly in June, with the British troops, less those 
left to garrison New York, he moved from that city to New 
Brunswick, and on the 14th of that month marched, in two 
strong columns, towards the river Delaware, intending -and 
hopmg, by awakening fears for Philadelphia, which would 
by this movement be shown to be his object, to draw Gen- 
eral Washington from his strong position at Middlebrook 
to offer him battle, but the wariness of the American com- 
mander foiled him; he remained on the strong ground he 
occupied, and General Howe, being of opinion that there 
w^ould be too much risk in his attempt to cross the Dela- 
ware, with a strong force, on its west bank, in front, and 
Washington's army in his rear, determined to move his 
army by sea to the Delaware or Chesapeake Bays, from 
either of which great estuaries Philadelphia could be reached 
by a march of a few days through a country traversed by 
no rivers of magnitude and in general of level or undulating 
surface, and therefore offering no strong positions to the 
army that might oppose his march. 

Early in July the British fleet stood to sea from New 
York, Avith the British army on board, their destination 
being carefully concealed from the Americans. The his- 
tory of the period of their uncertainty as to the point to 
which the winds were wafting their foe, has to me a thrill- 
ing interest. The storm of war must fall somewhere; but 
what portion of their goodly heritage was to be devastated? 
None could answer this question — the suspense was that of 
a people — the common current of thought was interrupted 
— there was a pause in the business of life — the timid quailed, 
"the boldest held their breath for a time." This suspense 



was first Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Delaware under her 
Constitution adopted a. d. 1776, and until the adoption of her second Con- 
stitution A.D. 1792; and then Chancellor of Delaware until he resigned 
this office A.D, 1802. Died October 5th, 1807, aged 85 years." 



OF GEORGE READ. 269 

was removed, July 30th, by intelligence that the British 
fleet was within the Delaware, but only to be renewed by 
information that it had left that bay, and stood to the east. 
It was next descried, August 7th, a short distance south of 
the capes of the Delaware, and from that day until almost 
the end of that month nothing was known of its movements. 
How terrible must have been this uncertainty ! Howe 
might have intended to draw Washington to the Delaware, 
and then, retracing his course, ascend the Hudson, surprise 
the posts in its vicinity, in order to co-operate with the ex- 
pected army of Burgoyne, or he might menace the Eastern 
States, or, transferring the war to the South, attack Charles- 
ton. The British tleet entered the Chesapeake August 16th, 
sailed to the head of that bay, where, on the 25th of that 
month, the British army was landed unopposed. General 
Howe, with one division, marched on the 27th to Elk, and 
on the 28th his vanguard occupied Gray's Hill, two miles 
east of it, while Knyphausen moved by Cecil Court House, 
with two brigades, within eight miles of the Christiana, and 
Grant was left with six battalions to guard the baggage and 
keep open communication with the fleet. Generals Corn- 
wallis and Knyphausen united their divisions on the 3d of 
September, at Pencader, and on the 8th General Grant, 
having shipped the tents and baggage left in his charge, 
joined them. A large amount of stores had been removed 
from Elk by a detachment of Delaware militia. General 
Washington in the mean time had not been idle. As soon 
as he received intelligence of the arrival of General Howe's 
army in the Chesapeake he marched his army, August 24th, 
through Philadelphia, to encourage his friends and intimi- 
date the disaffected by its number and martial appearance. 
He halted for a short time at the Brandywine, and thence 
moved to Wilmington and encamped on the hills around it. 
General Maxwell's light corps had been attacked by Corn- 
wallis, and forced to retreat over White Clay Creek. On 
Sept. 5th the American army was posted behind Red Clay 
Creek, with its right wing on Newport, and its left on 
Hockesson, the Maryland and Delaware militia having pre- 
viously been ordered to annoy the enemy's rear, and that 
of Pennsylvania to co-operate with the American army in 
front. General Howe endeavored by a feigned attack in 
front to mask his movement to turn the x\merican right. 



270 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 

As this movement, if successful, would have inclosed Wash- 
ington in a narrow strip of territory, where he could have 
been forced to fight at disadvantage, or the enemy might 
occupy the heights of Brandywine, and cut him off from 
Philadelphia, and capture it without a battle, he therefore, 
soon after nightfall, marched to the Brandywine, crossed 
it the day after, and posted his army on the high grounds 
north of it, leaving Maxwell's light infantry on the southern 
side of this stream to skirmish with the British. "Works 
w^ere hastily thrown up on a hill north of Chad's Ford, 
where Wayne's artillery corps was posted. At the lowest 
ford, Pyle's, two miles south of Chad's, was stationed one 
thousand Pennsylvania militia under General Armstrong, 
and the right of the army, Sullivan's division, of three 
thousand men, was so extended as to cover, it was expected, 
the fords above, of which there were several, while the 
centre. Green's division (the brigades of Weedon and Muh- 
lenburg), wason the hills in the reai% whence it could rein- 
force the wings as might be necessary. His army thus in 
order of battle, Washington awaited, with his characteristic 
equanimity, the onset of the British. A thick fog covered 
the country for some hours.* General Knyphausen moved 
about nine a.m. from Kennett Square, and was attacked by 
Maxwell's troops, who, after fighting bravely, were driven 
by superior numbers across the Brandywine. Knyphausen 
then kept up a heavy cannonade, under cover of which he 
made feigned attempts to pass Chad's Ford, the object of 
these feints being to divert the attention of the Americans 
from the real point of attack. Two small streams, rising 
in Pennsylvania, after a course, generally from west to east, 
of about five miles, unite and form the Brandywine. At 
the confluence of these streams the Brandywine flows from 
west to east, about seven miles, to Chad's Ford, and thence, 
about twelve miles more, to the point where it empties into 
the Christiana, two miles below Wilmington. The great 
water-power of the Brandywine before the American Revo- 
lution was only applied to the manufacture of flour, from 
the wheat of Delaware and the Eastern Shore of Maryland, 
esteemed the best raised in the colonies. The main body 
of the British, led by Cornwallis, Howe being with it, 

* September 11th. 



OF GEORGE READ. 271 

marched up the Lancaster road, at dawn of day, to pass 
Trimble's and Jefferis Fords above the point of confluence 
of the branches of the Brandywine, and so turn the right 
of the Americans, while Knyphausen amused tliem with 
his bluster. This stratagem, skilfully devised and executed, 
was completely successful, screened as the movement was 
by the fog and the wooded hills along the Brandywine, and 
aided by the neutrality, or disaffection to Congress, of the 
Quaker population of this region, who withheld information 
of the movement of the main body of the British army. At 
last, about mid-day, this movement was reported by Colonels 
Bland and Ross to Washington, who at once boldly deter- 
mined to pass Chad's Ford, and attack with his centre and 
left wing Knyphausen, while Sullivan was ordered with 
Sterling to cross the Brandj'^wine, and assail the left of 
Cornwallis's column; but before this plan could be carried 
into effect Sullivan received and communicated intelligence 
that the enemy were not near the Forks of Brandywine, 
and that therefore Cornwallis's movement was a feint to 
draw the American army across the creek, there to find 
itself engaged, not with a division, but the whole British 
army. It was not until two o'clock p.m. that the uncer- 
tainty produced by contradictor}^ intelligence was dissipated. 
The enemy had turned the American right, and were mov- 
ing eastwardly. Sullivan's, Sterling's, and Stephens's divi- 
sions were ordered to change front, so as to face the ad- 
vancing column of the British. Wayne was ordered to 
remain at Chad's Ford, and with Maxwell's light troops 
hold Knyphausen in check, and Green's division, with 
General Washington, was stationed as the reserve between 
them. 

As the British advanced toward Birmingham Meeting- 
Plouse they were surprised and amused by a number of 
Quakers mingling with and moving forward with them. 
The spectacle was magnificent, — a great body of disciplined 
troops marching in military order, the scarlet uniforms, and 
muskets and bayonets, bright as silver, gleaming in the sun, 
which shone unclouded. It had a fascination for these 
simple rustics, who followed on, all fear swallowed up by 
curiosity, till the battle began, about 4 o'clock p.m. They 
were surprised by the smooth and white skins of the British 
officers, mostly short and portly men, neat and clean, and 



272 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 

elegcantly attired, in strong contrast to the dingy uniforms 
and gaunt forms of the Americans, who had passed the 
preceding winter under privations and discomforts to which 
ordinary patriotism and fortitude would have succumbed, 
while their enemies were housed, warmly clad, and well 
fed. They came upon a group of mounted officers, flashing 
in scarlet and gold ; one of these is prominent, evidently a 
general, of large body, on a stately charger, but reduced in 
flesh, his features coarse and large, and his mouth fallen in 
from loss of teeth ; it was Sir William Howe. The fields 
before them were red with the British regiments moving 
rapidly forward, and covered with the knapsacks and blan- 
kets of which they had disencumbered themselves.* 

The troops under Sullivan, unfortunately, to prevent 
Duborre's brigade from being on the right of them, made 
such a wide circuit as to delay so much his getting up his 
men that they were not formed when attacked. The fight 
was animated for some time, but the right first wavered 
and then gave way, followed by the left wing; and the 
centre, though it fought bravely, could not long endure the 
whole fire of the British, and broke also. General Green, 
with his division, moving forward so rapidly as to clear five 
miles in fifty minutes, most gallantly covered the retreating 
Americans, opening his ranks for them to pass behind, and 
then closing ; and about dusk, at a defile near Dilworthtown 
(chosen by Washington for making a stand, if necessary, on 
a previous reconnoissance), after a gallant fight, much of it 
with the bayonet, checked the farther advance of Howe, 
and then withdrew his division in good order. His able 
and brave stand diverted the main body of the enemy from 
Wayne, who had resisted the attacks of Knyphausen until 
the enemy appeared on his right, when, knowing from 
this fact Sullivan's defeat, he took the road to Chester, 
where the whole American army remained through the 
night of September 11th, and retreated the next day to 
Philadelphia. The American loss in the battle of Brandy- 
wine was about nine hundred, killed, wounded, and prison- 
ers, and that of the British, as stated by themselves, five 
Jiundred. 

General Sullivan was unjustly censured for sending the 

* Townsead's Account of the Battle of Brandywine, pp. 21, 24, 26. 



OF GEOROE READ. 273 

false (ns it proved) intelligence which induced the counter- 
mand of the order that he should cross the Brandywine and 
attack the enemy, for had he withheld it, and Washington 
passed that stream, as he would have done, to encounter 
not Knyphausen alone, but the whole British army, in case 
of defeat, his men being pushed into the Brandywine in his 
rear, a total rout must have ensued. Though Sullivan re- 
tained the confidence of Washington, and was by him and 
other superior officers acquitted of the charge of defect of 
vigilance and activity in guarding the fords of Brandy wine, 
yet I cannot divest myself of the inclination, at least, to the 
opposite opinion. General Sullivan, I think, was too much 
occupied with the responsibility of his charge, and how he 
should screen himself from censure, and was not of that 
high order of men who forget self when great public in- 
terests are at stake. He posted troops at several fords and 
was careful to communicate all intelligence he received 
to Washington, but made no extraordinary effort, as he 
should have done, to obtain it, especially as he expressed 
and repeated the opinion that the attempt would be made 
to turn the American right.''' As the fords by which the 
British crossed were distant from him but five miles, an 
officer vigilant and enterprising as the emergency required, 
might have terminated the uncertainty as to their move- 
ment in one hour. He with a blamable facility concluded, 
upon the statement of an utter stranger, that there were 
no fords above Buffington's, and by Dr. Darlington's letter, re- 
cently published by the Pennsylvania Historical Society, it 
appears he left a ford unguarded, over which a party of 
British passed, this ford being above Buffington's. 

I cannot refrain from the speculation 'Syhat would have 
been the result had Washington's bold plan of crossing the 
Brandywine and attacking the British been executed." He 
would, I think, have beaten and driven Knyphausen before 
him, being numerically so much superior, and then all 
further good result would have depended upon his being 
able to restrain the pursuit of the flying Hessians in time 
to recross in good order and form on the best ground to re- 
ceive the attack of Cornwallis. In any case, most likely, 
such was the superiority of the British in number, but much 

* In his letter to John Hancock, October 6th, 1T77. 



274 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 

more in discipline and equipment, that they would have 
won the battle, but the Americans would have retired suffer- 
ing less loss and inflicting greater than they did suffer and 
inflict, and the success over Knyphausen would have been 
a set-off against Howe's victory.* 

On the 13 th of September, Wilmington, in the State of 
Delaware, was occupied by a detachment of the British 
army.f Dr. McKinley, the President of that State, made 
prisoner; and the chief magistracy, vacated by this un- 
toward event, devolved, by virtue of article seven of the 
Constitution, upon Mr. Read. He was in his seat in 
the Continental Congress when he received intelligence of 
this event, which constrained him to enter upon a new 
sphere of duty, made arduous by the number of Tories and 
refugees in his little State, and the British armed ships in 
her waters. It was impracticable to pass from Philadelphia 
to Delaware on the western side of the river, because the 
British occupied the whole pass from thence into the penin- 
sula. Mr. Read was therefore compelled to take his journey 
along the Jersey shore of the river Delaware, and brave the 



* The Quakers I have mentioned, their curiosity still overpowering 
their prudence, after having viewed the contest afar off, as soon as it 
ceased, with strange temerity, ventured on the field of battle to gratify 
their morbid desire to scan its horrors. They soon aided in carrying 
the wounded to Birmingham Meeting-House, a simple building, of a 
single story, with a steep roof, adjoining its burying-ground, the declin- 
ing sun illuminating the green mounds of the dead, distinguished by no 
tombstones, then, as now, proscribed by the Friends as worldly vanities, 
especially out of place in grave-yards. The spectacle of suffering within 
this temporary hospital no doubt strengthened their faith in the tenet of 
their sect that all war is unlawful. They were especially attracted by 
the grim preparations for an amputation. The tourniquet was applied, 
and the surgeon grasped his knife, when he paused to ask for wine or 
brandy to administer to the patient, a British officer. " I need neither," 
exclaimed this brave man, "for my spirits are enough excited." At 
that moment one more prudent than the other Quakers warned them 
that the picket-guards were being set, and if they lingered longer their 
egress from the battle-ground would be cut off. I cannot but wish they 
had stayed till the amputation was performed and reported its result. I 
hope the brave Englishman survived to be gladdened by the sight of 
the white cliffs of Albion, and long shared the provision the wise policy 
of the British government, with no niggard hand, has made, whenever 
health or limb or life has been lost in her service. — Townsend's Account 
of the Battle of Br-andywine, pp. 25-27. 

•f" See Appendix C. 



OF GEORGE READ. 275 

risk of crossing it. lie left Philadelphia September 26th, 
as the British army entered it, and joined his family, then 
in New Jersey, and soon afterwards they commenced their 
homeward jonrney. While prosecuting it, he received the 
followinij letter from Colonel Bedford. This letter is with- 
out date^ but must have been written in the beginning of 
October, as the election, which he mentions, must have been 
held (as provided by article twenty-seven of the Constitu- 
tion) on the first day of that month : 

" Salem, Saturday evening. 

"Dear Sir,— On our arrival at this place, found a craft 
ready to receive goods, and convey them to Port Penn, 
which opportunity we made use of, and had our wagons 
unloaded at the wharf, and [the goods] put on board the 
vessel, [which] set off about four o'clock, and [1] expect by 
this time she is got over. Early to-morrow morning we 
shall set off, in a row-boat, from this place, if the weather 
permits. A Mr. Harris, ship-builder, from Wilmington, is 
the owner of both boats, and if you come here inquire for 

"i have just heard, by George Parker, that Mr. McKean 
and Colonel Patterson have retired from our county on 
hearing that some attempts were preparing for making them 
prisoners. 

"The election was opened, and held at Newark^ by a 
very few people, and [I] have just seen a ticket which I 
inclose you. 

" Two or three boats, at different times, have come over 
this day from the other side. There is no news from our 
army. I understand eight ships-of-war are at Billingsport. 
The Lizard frigate lays at New Castle, on board of which 
Thomas Clark, of New Castle, is a prisoner. He was taken 
out of his house about midnight and carried on board. 

"I shall endeavor to let you hear from me as soon as I 
arrive on the other side the river, after making some inquiry 
of the situation [of affairs]. Mr. Bail, who takes this, 
promises to forward it to you. I leave my horse here. 

* Instead of New Castle, as by law appointed, because the British 
men-of-war off that place, or near it, made it unsafe, if not impractica- 
ble, to hold this election there. 



276 LIFE AND CORBESPONDENCE 

I have no opportunity of getting him over at this time. 
[1] expect in a day or two he will be sent. I am at Mr. 
Burrow's, and think, if you come here, it will be the most 
suitable house for you. Please remember us to all our 
friends. 

"I am your affectionate brother, 

"G. Bedford. 
"To George Read, Esquire. 
" At Mr. Howell's, near Roadstown." 

On the 13th of October, 1777, Mr. Read arrived with his 
family at Salem, New Jersey, and procured a boat to con- 
vey them across the Delaware, there about five miles wide. 
At this time there were several British men-of-war lying at 
anchor off New Castle. The boat had almost reached the 
Delaware shore, when she was descried by the enemy, who 
immediately despatched an armed barge in pursuit of her. 
The tide being unfortunately low, the boat grounded so far 
from the beach that it was impossible for Mr. Read and his 
family to land before their pursuers were upon them. There 
was only time to efface every mark on the baggage which 
could excite any suspicion that Mr. Read was not, as he 
represented himself, a country gentleman, returning to his 
home. The officer who commanded the boat was of no 
higher rank than that of boatswain, and the presence of 
Mr. Read's mother, wife, and inf\int children, gave sufficient 
probability to his story to deceive sailors, who, guileless 
themselves, are not prone to suspect deception. The honest 
and kind-hearted tars assisted, with great glee, in land- 
ing the baggage, and carrying the ladies and children on 
shore. 

Wherever there has existed government, unless despotic, 
there have been parties, owing sometimes to honest differ- 
ence of opinion, sometimes to oppression, ambition, disap- 
pointment, or a factious spirit. It may, I think, be assumed 
that the parties in Delaware up to the time of the stamp- 
act were proprietary and anti-proprietary. In support of 
that act there was so insignificant a minority that the voice 
in favor of its repeal may with truth be called unanimous. 
This unanimity existed until the great measure of inde- 
pendence w^as proposed and adopted. The opponents to 
independence were slow, even after it was proclaimed, to 



OF GEORGE READ. 277 

abamlon all hope of accommodation with the mother- 
country, to which from habit they looked with affection, 
and which, from extravagant notions of her power and 
resources, they regarded as invincible by a power so feeble 
as that of Congress. Some of the opponents of independ- 
ence, but they were comparatively few, openly or covertly 
sided with Great Britain, but the majority of them were 
only lukewarm in suggesting, adopting, and executing meas- 
ures of defence or attack against the enemy. These were 
treated by the violent Whigs with the usual injustice of 
parties : they were branded, as if they were undoubted 
royalists, with the opprobrious epithet of Tory, when they 
assumed to be, and, I believe, truly were, moderate Wliiys. 
They were sometimes subjected to violent and cruel treat- 
ment : for example, Clark, a member of Assembly for Kent, 
and afterwards Chief Justice of the Court of Common Pleas, 
was pilloried and egged for expressing in the Committee of 
Safety of that county, the opinion " that accommodation 
with Britain was possible." And subsequently on his way 
to New Castle was forcibly prevented by a militia company 
from taking his seat in the General Assembly. In April, 
1777, John Hancock in a letter, a copy of which is among 
Mr. Read's papers, informs President McKinley "that the 
danger of an immediate insurrection in Sussex County, Dela- 
ware, from the inimical spirit manifested by a considerable 
portion of the inhabitants, has induced Congress to desire that 
those among them who have shown disaffection to America 
may be secured, in hopes that their wicked designs may be 
thereby defeated." Insurrection had not only been appre- 
hended but had repeatedly occurred both in Kent and Sus- 
sex Counties, but especially in Sussex, where the disaffected 
to Congress were most numerous. With the British armed 
vessels in the Delaware Bay and River the royalists were in 
constant and close communication, and concealed and aided 
emissaries from these vessels, wdio deceived or corrupted 
ignorant peisons, and instigated them to rebellion ; while 
payment in hard money for cattle, grain, and vegetables 
was an almost irresistible temptation to illicit traffic in these 
articles. The ardent and active Whigs were exposed to a^ 
great peril. The State was infested with s^nes^'^ who fur- 

* See Appendix D. 



278 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 

nished lists to the British of the most forward Wliigs, and 
these, at least in the vicinity of the bay and river, were 
liable to be seized by armed parties from the English men- 
of-war, and carried from their beds to these floating prisons. 
Mr. Read's influence with the moderate Whigs was great, 
and was ever wielded by him wisely, desirous as he was to 
lessen party bitterness, to protect the weak from oppression 
and cruelty, and unite all his fellow-citizens in defence of 
their rights, — a diflicult task, when, as was the case, obsti- 
nate men, of opposite opinions as to the expediency of laws, 
chose to obey such only as they thought proper, while 
others, delighting in the petulance of censure, shrunk from 
the exertions necessary to reform and amend.* 

Such was the state of affairs in Delaware when Mr. Read 
was summoned from his seat in Congress to take the helm 
of government, and when he looked beyond his own depart- 
ment he found little to encourage him, for the aspect of 
things in general was gloomy. These were, indeed, in the 
classic language of the Revolution, the times that tried men's 
souls : the battle of Brandy wine had been lost, Philadelphia 
occupied by the British, the attack at Germantown, though 
almost a victory, had failed, and the fathers of their coun- 
try having fled before their triumphant enemy, were de- 
liberating at York, in Pennsylvania, then a small and 
obscure village. 

Mr. Read located his family in Cecil County, Maryland, 
not only because it was a place of security, but because it 
was the residence of his brother-in-law, the Reverend Wil- 
liam Thompson, Rector of St. Stephen's parish, in that 
county .f 

Thomas McKean, unquestionably patriotic and bold, but 
sometimes, perhaps, severe and intolerant, soon after the 
battle of Brandywine took upon him, as Speaker of the 
House of Assembly, agreeably to article seven of the Consti- 
tution, the presidency of Delaware, vacant by the capture of 
Dr. McKinley and the absence of Mr. Read. In his letter 
to Mr. Read, of the 26th September, 1777, he informs him 



* See Appendix E. 

f Two of the sons-in-law of the Reverend George Koss had the same 
name, the clergyman, above mentioned, and General William Thomp- 
son, though not kinsmen. 



OF GEORGE READ. 279 

of this step, and the reasons for it, details his official acts, 
and resigns the office. 

"Sir, — The captivity of the President, your absence at 
Philadelphia, and not hearing from you, the distressed 
situation of the Delaware State, being without a head or 
body (the militia being dispirited and dispersed), and the 
love T bore the virtuous part of the people, added to a sense 
of duty, induced me on Monday last to take the command- 
in-chief as President. With the approbation of the Privy 
Council I have ordered the whole of the militia to be in 
readiness to march at an hour's warning, and one-half thereof 
to be called out into actual service to continue for seven 
days, the last of which to be relieved by the other half, and 
to be posted at such places as the colonels or connnanding 
officers of each battalion should direct: and to continue this 
rotation until further orders from the commander-in-chief. 
When thus collected, being the easiest service, and the 
most inviting, and of course most likely to be complied with, 
I had it in view to reduce the number of posts, and to 
strengthen a few, so as to have a respectable body of men 
near the enemy, etc. I have with the like approbation 
issued a proclamation to insure the holding an election of 
Assemblymen, etc. for New Castle County. With a pros- 
pect of deriving advantage from it, w^e made a promotion 
in the militia, by making Mr. Rodney major-general, [and] 
Messrs. Dagworthy, Dickinson, and Patterson brigadiers, 
and passed a vote, from the necessity of the case, to borrow 
upon the credit of the State three thousand pounds from 
Congress, or any person or persons who may be willing to 
lend it. This is the sum of what has been done in Council. 
I have given general orders to the militia accordingly, wrote 
to General Rodney for the Dover Light Horse, or at least 
six of them, to join General Patterson, and by letter spirited 
up General Dagworthy. This, except riding through the 
county, and private letters written, is all I have been able 
to effect, except taking deserters, and a few Tories ; the 
last either escaped or were discharged on giving caution. 

"As you are now, I am told, coming into the State, I 
must beg leave to resign my command, nothing being more 
distressing to my private affairs, or to my mind, as Chief 
Justice of Pennsylvania, than to continue longer in it. 



280 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 

Wishing you all manner of success in saving our country 
in general, and the Delaware State in particular, 

"I remain, dear sir, your most obedient, humble servant, 

"Thomas McKean. 

"Lunn's Tavern, September 2Cth, 1777. 

"The Honorable George Read, Esquire." 

I have found among Mr. Read's papers the commission 
of John Dickinson, as brigadier-general of Delaware militia, 
with this indorsement in Mr. Read's handwriting: 

"Mr. Dickinson resigned this commission the 19th of 
December, 1777, not having acted under it. 

"G. Read, V. Pr 

The student of the history of the American Revolution 
is startled when he reads of offices, which appear to him 
incompatible, held by the same person, and of assumptions 
of power by public bodies which, accustomed as he is to the 
careful and accurate description and separation of powers 
and their depositories, seem to him to have been usurpa- 
tions, — for example, Mr. Read was at the same time Presi- 
dent of Council and delegate to the Continental Congress, 
and Mr. McKean Chief Justice of Penns3dvania and Speaker 
of the Delaware House of Assembly. The convention that 
framed the first constitution of Delaware, besides what they 
were appointed to do, did other things proper to the execu- 
tive and judicial departments of government, and, in the 
language of a recent historian,''' "the Congress of 1775 
entered upon the exercise of a comprehensive authority, in 
which supreme executive, legislative, and in some cases 
judicial functions were united, authority without formal 
sanction or fixed limits except the ready obedie'nce of a large 
majority in most of the colonies." These anomalies may 
have been tolerated as necessities, and necessities they were; 
and the people, I think, were neither shocked nor surprised 
at assumptions of power by office-bearers, because they had 
no fears that these fiduciaries, the champions of their rights, 
would betray the confidence they had reposed in them. 

I venture to insert the next letter, though I anticipate 
objection to it as altogether without interest or importance. 

* Hildreth's History of the United States, vol. iii. p. TT. 



OF GEORGE READ. 281 

It is, to be sure, only an urgent request of a benevolent 
person for the interposition of Mr. Read's good offices in 
behalf of a good, useful, and inoffensive man, taken forci- 
bly and without excuse (being a non-combatant) from his 
family and business, and who would be ruined if not imme- 
diately released. This case produces a more vivid feeling 
of the evils of war than general descriptions, however 
highly wrought, of the calamities of which it is the prolific 
parent, although deduced from many examples. 

"Sir, — The Light Horse, as I understand, took, yester- 
day. Captain Nicholls, master of one of the packets, whose 
universal benevolence and charity have recommended [him] 
to all who knew him. He has long sailed in the employ 
of the post-office to Carolina, where he is well known to 
Mr. Gadsden, and most of the gentlemen there. His em- 
ploy[ment] makes him neither a member of the army or 
navy; and as he has a large family his detention here 
(which can be of no service to the general cause) will be 
his utter ruin, as his place will be immediately filled with 
another. I do therefore earnestly beg and entreat you, if you 
have any friendship for me, that you will endeavor to effect 
his relejjLse, for which the enlargement of Mr. Patterson, then 
a member of the Legislature here, may serve as a precedent; 
but if this cannot be obtained, I hope you will permit such 
necessaries as he may want may be sent him. I would not 
urge this request did I not know the goodness of his heart, 
for good men only are the objects of my good wishes. Your 
heart, I am sure, will excuse this trouble from, sir, your 
sincere friend, and much obliged humble servant, 

"Theo. Maurice. 

"November 5th, 1777. 

"George Read, Esquire." 

On the back of this letter is written: "Letter from Theo. 
Maurice, Esquire, etc. Note. Captain Nicholls was sent to 
camp before this was delivered to me. 

"G. R." 

Mr. Read's little State, lately traversed by a hostile 
army, her chief town occupied by the enemy, and her 
whole water-front incessantly annoyed by their armed 

19 



282 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 

vessels, was now startled by intelligence that the British 
fleet had sailed, steering for the bay and river Delaware. 

"Sir, — His Excellency General Washington informs me 
that a fleet of thirty-six sail has left Staten Island to join 
General Howe, and requests that I would endeavor to get 
the earliest information of their arrival in the river, and 
transmit it to his Excellency or to me. I am, with esteem, 
your most obedient servant, 

"James Potter.* 

"Camp, November 10th, 1777. 

"To George Read, Esq., President of the Delaware State." 

This letter has indorsed upon it : "From General Potter. 
Answered forthwith." 

Many persons, I have no doubt, suffered the injurious 
treatment of which the writer of the next-inserted letter 
complains, and it is proof of the disturbed and unhappy 
state of society in the neighborhood of this unfortunate 
man. He does not state the charges against him, but they 
probably were correspondence with the enemies of his 
country, and supplying them with fresh provisions. 

"Sir, — I am sorry to trouble you at this time, but the 
public good in this unsettled state of affairs, to which you 
have always paid the strictest attention, will be a sufficient 
reason for my communicating my grievances to you, re- 
questing an opportunity of a hearing respecting crimes 
[which], I am told, [are] laid to my charge, that if guilty 
of any breach of the law I may be punished, if otherwise, 
my character may be cleared from any aspersions unjustly 
cast upon it. I have been told that some persons have 
threatened to take whatever they can get of mine as free 
plunder, and take me prisoner, [and] that they had orders 
[to do so], and that if I did not submit to their will and 
pleasure, or made any resistance, to hang me. This might 
seem like idle report to those who are strangers to our 
calamitous situation, but those who are in the least ac- 
quainted with transactions for some time past must be 

* Of Pennsylvania. "A very active and vigilant militia oflQcer," — 
MarshalVs Life of Washington, vol. iii. p. 362. 



OF GEORGE READ. 283 

sensible there is but too much truth to ^be apprehended 
from it. I came home this day from Kent, in Maryland, 
where I had been providing places for cattle that were 
drove away some time ago, lest they might fall into the 
enemy's hands. [I] have taken the earliest opportunity 
to inform you that I will attend, at any time and place you 
will please to appoint me, to have a hearing before any dis- 
interested and unprejudiced judges you may think fit. Gen- 
eral Patterson, perhaps, may be acquainted with what I 
am charged with. Please to inform, by a line with the 
bearer, of the time and place you would have me attend. 
"From your very humble servant, 

"Alexander Porter. 

"Hamburg, November 21st, 1777. 

" George Read, Esquire, Vice-President of the Delaware 
State." 

On the back of this letter it is noted that Porter came 
before George Evans, Esquire, who took his recognizance to 
appear at the next Court of Oyer and Terminer. 

Mr. Read evinced great solicitude in relation to President 
McKinley, then in the hands of the enemy, and made every 
exertion practicable to ascertain his situation, provide for 
his wants, and procure his exchange, requested the inter- 
ference of General Washington in his behalf, and addressed 
a communication to the British commodore, Griffith, for the 
purpose of learning his wants, and asking such indulgence 
and kind treatment as his character entitled him to expect. 
All which appears from the letters to be next presented to 
the reader. The letter to General Washington treats, how- 
ever, of other matters besides this. 

25th November, 1777. 

"Sir, — Your friend, Mr. Latimer, has most readily oifered 
to wait upon Commodore Griffith for permission to see and 
converse with you upon the subject of your present situa- 
tion and wants, and to be informed if they be such as I or 
any of your friends may with propriety relieve, and whether 
you can propose any plan for the obtaining your liberty 
speedily upon honorable terms. My absence from the State 
at the time of your captivity and long after has prevented 
an application of this sort sooner, though true it is that 
such vague accounts as we have of your treatment are 



284 LIFE AND COBRESPONDENGE 

favorable. I wi^ to be satisfied of this, and to know if I 
can, in any unexceptionable way, render your unfortunate 
situation more tolerable to you, and I am, with the greatest 
respect and esteem, your most obedient servant, 

" George Read. 
" President McKinley." 

" New Castle County, 25th November, HIT. 

" Sir, — The fortune of war having put his Excellency 
John McKinley, Esquire, the President of this State, into 
your hands, I take the liberty to send the bearer, George 
Latimer, Esquire, one of the Privy Council, with this, for 
your permission to deliver the inclosed letter to Mr. Mc- 
Kinley, wishing to know his present wants, and whether 
they be such as may be supplied with propriety. Be as- 
sured, sir, that your prisoner is a character that will merit 
every indulgence and kind treatment your humanity may 
induce you to afford him, though it too frequently happens 
in contests such as we are now engaged in that the parties 
exercise less of this moral duty towards each other than in 
foreign wars. I am induced to believe that such a conduct 
is not consistent with your sentiments ; believe me that it 
does not correspond with mine. I fixed upon Mr. Latimer 
for this business as one well known to the President, and a 
man of probity and honor. If it shall be in my power I 
will return the favor, and am, with much respect, your 
obedient servant, 

" George Read, Vice-President of Delaware. 

"Commodore Griffith." 

" Sir, — Your letter, with the inclosed, is come to my hands, 
and I am to inform you that your friend, upon the Solebay's 
sailing from this anchorage, was conveyed in one of the 
ships to Chester, where, I believe, he now is. While in the 
Solebay I will venture to say he was treated with every 
indulgence he wished and desired, and [in] his present 
situation I doubt not is equally so. Your letter to him I 
shall send to the Admiral, from whose example (as well as 
the native feelings of our own hearts) we imbibe the liberal 
sentiments of humanity you profess. 

"I am, sir, your most obedient servant, 

" W. A. Griffith. 

" Nonsuch, November 26th, 1777. 

"George Read, Esquire." 



OF GEORGE BEAD. 285 

"New Castle, November 25tli, 1177. 
"Sir, — I was honored with jours of the 8th instant, de- 
livered to me the 15th by Colonel Pope, by whom I imme- 
diately wrote to persons in authority in the counties of 
Kent and Sussex to give him every assistance in procuring 
clothing and blankets for the use of our battalion with you. 
I know not what may be the success, but have hopes that 
sufficient for their immediate use may be obtained. The 
State had made some provision in this way at the time of 
raising the battalion, in the beginning of the year, a part 
of which was then only expended ; but upon the march of 
General Howe's army through this county the greater part 
of what remained was sent by a person, in whose custody 
it was, with his own effects, in a vessel, into Manito Creek, 
in [the] Jerseys, near to Red Bank fort ; whether it is at 
present safe I know not. I know it consisted of three hun- 
dred and fifty yards of cloth, of different kinds, in rem- 
nants, the gleanings of many shops. I have ordered an 
inquiry to be made respecting it. 1 luckily laid my hands 
upon one hundred and fifty yards of linen, of the public 
store, saved from the enemy's searches, in Wilmington, 
which is made into shirts, ready for Colonel Pope on his 
return. The county of New Castle has heretofore been so 
stript of blanketing that we have not a sufficiency for the 
few militia we have now in service guarding the shores of 
the Delaware. The manufacture of this State ever was 
inconsiderable in proportion to the number of its inhab- 
itants, depending principally on foreign goods purchased 
at Philadelphia. That part of the State which did most in 
this way was severely pillaged by General Howe's army, 
both as to the clothing of the people and their sheep, so 
that their distress is great at this season. To give you 
some idea of the amazing prices necessaries have arisen to, a 
man next door to me has just purchased a little American- 
made linen for family use at fifty shillings per yard, such 
as but three years since sold for four shillings. I have a 
tanner's bill for leather for my own use now before me, in 
which sole-leather is charged at ten shillings per pound, 
two calf-skins at seventy shillings each, and a third at 
ninety shillings, the three not weighing altogether six 
pounds. Shoes are selling from six to eight dollars per 
pair. How to remedy these things I know not. They 



286 LIFE AND COEBESPONDijNGE 

. make unfavorable impressions. I have the pleasure to in- 
form you that we have greatly checked and put almost 
entire stop to the intercourse that was had with the enemy's 
ships since they came into our river. This requires all the 
militia we can procure, as we have a water-communication 
of more than one hundred and twenty miles in our front, 
and too many of our people disposed to supply themselves 
with salt, sugar, coffee, etc. at lower rates than [they] can 
' be had within the State. We have been peculiarly unlucky 
in the captivity of our President [and capture of] our pub- 
lic papers, moneys, and records, [which] damped the spirits 
of our people. They have not got over the effects of it. 
While on this subject I must entreat your Excellency's at- 
tention to procuring our President's release, by exchange, 
as soon as it may be in your power. His usefulness was 
such that his loss is severely felt through the State, and 
particularly by myself, upon whom the business [of the 
executive department] devolves, as Speaker of the Legisla- 
tive Council. I am truly inadequate to either station, but 
especially to that of Vice-President, and such is the pro- 
vision in the Constitution of the State, [and] it cannot be 
altered without doing a worthy man, our President, injus- 
tice. Be assured that in procuring his speedy return here 
you will do a great favor to the State as well as to your 
Excellency's most obedient humble servant, 

" George PiEAd. 
"His Excellency General Washington." -..., 

On the same day Mr. Read wrote as follows to the 

President of Congress : 

"Newark, 25th November, 1111. 

" Sir, — Yours of the 1st instant, inclosing the resolve 
of Congress of that day, recommending the 18th of Decem- 
ber next to be set apart as a day of thanksgiving through- 
out the United States, was handed to me, as Vice-President 
I of the Delaware State, and you may be assured that I will 
take such measures as are necessary to carry the same into 
effect. 

"■ This State having been so unfortunate as to have the 
President thereof made a prisoner, with all the public 
papers under his care, I am at a loss to know what requisi-^ 
tions have been made by Congress upon this State, from 



OF GEOROE BEAD. 287 

time to time, and what steps have been taken to carry the 
same into execution; therefore I must request the favor of 
your directing a review of the Minutes of Congress; and 
copies of any such resolves as may be expected to be acted 
upon in the Dehiware State, and particuhirly I would ask 
to have the original or copies of the testimonies upon which 
a resolve of Congress for the imprisonment of a Thomas 
Lightfoot and Thomas Cockayne, of Sussex County, was 
founded, as the Chief Justice of the State tells me he has 
been applied to for a habeas corpus to relieve them from 
that confinement. The resolution probably passed some 
time in August last, as they were taken into custody about 
the 25th of that month. 

" I am, etc. etc., 

"George Read. 
" President of Congress." 

The letter which follows is the last of those addressed to 
Mr. Read in 1777, which 1 find among his papers, and is 
characteristic of its writer. 

" Sir, — Having now an opportunity by the bearer, Mr. 
Holmes, none having offered before, I transmit you a re- 
solve of Congress, which I received on Wednesday last, 
under cover from the Honorable Henry Laurens, President 
of Congress, in which he informs me ' that it leads to an 
inquiry into the State of Delaware, and requires the dele- 
gates from that State to attend Congress, and requests of 
me the needful answer.' Mr. President's letter to me had 
visited General Washington's head-quarters, thence took a 
tour to Newport, from whence Colonel Duff sent it inclosed 
to me. It has been directed to me, supposing that I still 
continued to act as president of your State. You will be 
pleased therefore, as commander-in-chief, to give the answer. 

" It gives me great pleasure to find that the Congress are 
deterniined to support the Whigs in the Delaware State, 
and, of course, you will be happy in receiving such a proof 
of it. 

" The warm attachment of the Honorable James Sykes, 
Esquire, to the virtuous and glorious cause in which his 
country is engaged, will no doubt induce him to give his 
immediate attendance in Congress, and the more especially 



288 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 

as he is at present engaged in no public business that can 
prevent it. 

"I am, sir,, your most obedient, humble servant, 

" Thomas McKean. 
"Paxton, December 6th, 1777. 
" Honorable George Read, Esquire." 

On Tuesday, 2d of December, " a representation from 
Captain William Peery, of Lewistown, Delaware, to the 
Board of War was laid before Congress and read, where- 
upon Congress came to the following resolution : Whereas, 
the situation of the enemy's ships and forces and the arts 
and numbers of the malignants in the county of Sussex, in 
the State of Delaware, have rendered the operation of the 
civil authority utterly ineffectual, whereby it has become 
essential not only to the preservation of the independency 
of that State, but likewise to the general welfare of the 
United States that the most rigorous measures should be 
forthwith pursued for repressing the arts and violence of 
the open and secret enemies of these States; therefore 
Resolved, That the Board of War be authorized to pursue 
such measures for the support of the friends of America in 
the county of Sussex, in the State of Delaware, and for 
curbing the spirit and checking the evil designs of the dis- 
affected, as they shall deem effectual."''' 

From this resolution, to which the one mentioned by 
Judge McKean was preliminary, it appears there was no 
change for the better in the disheartening condition of Dela- 
ware, at least in Sussex County, at the close of 1777 ; but 
if there was little to encourage Mr. Read in his own State, 
there was, I think, upon a review of this eventful year, 
much to inspire confidence in the final success of the cause, 
which was truly "glorious" and "virtuous." True, the 
battle of Brandywine was lost, and Philadelphia captured, 
and the brave defence of Fort Mifflin ineffectual, but Wash- 
ington, judiciously occupying strong ground in the vicinity 
of Philadelphia, west of it, harassing the foraging-parties of 
the enemy, and, wherever he showed himself in force, pre- 
senting a bold front, had cooped up the British in that city, 
and made Sir William Howe's success, on the preceding 

*. Journals of Congress, vol. iii. p. 432. 



OF GEORGE READ. 289 

11th of September, a barren triumph, and to all the dis- 
asters of the American arms in 1777 the victory of Saratoga 
was a brilliant and sufficient set-off. 

New Year's Day (1777) had dawned on our forefathers, 
gladdening them not with the prospect of peace. The at- 
titude of the belligerents was unchanged, the Americans 
abating nothing of their stern resolve never to lay down 
their arms till they had conquered peace upon the basis of 
their independence, acknowledged by their haughty adver- 
sary, and Britain as resolved never to sheathe the sword 
till she had reduced her rebel colonists to unconditional 
submission. It seems as if Providence had inflicted upon 
this great people and their government, as a punishment 
for their injustice to their American brethren, blindness to 
their true interest, and to the impossibility of enslaving 
three millions of men, offshoots from their parent stock, 
loving liberty as passionately as they loved it, and in no 
wise inferior to these proud islanders in courage, intellect, 
and knowledge of their common constitution and laws. 
History has seldom recorded an infatuation greater than 
the persistence of Britain in her attempt to effect an im- 
possibility, nor a severer punishment than that she incurred 
by her folly, even the loss of thirteen colonies, the noblest 
gems in her monarch's diadem. 

Hostilities were suspended between the contending armies, 
retired to their winter quarters, the British well housed, 
and fed, and clothed, and the Americans at Valley Forge,* 
under the imperfect shelter of rude huts, pervious to winds, 
and rains, and snow, often on the verge of starvation, thou- 
sands of them barefooted, and the luxury of a blanket 
enjoyed by few. General Washington, after stating that 
the soap, vinegar, and other articles, ordered by Congress, 
had not been seen by his soldiers since the battle of Brandy- 
wine, sarcastically adds : " The first we do not need, for few 
of my men have a shirt, some merely a moiety of one, and 
some none at all." The hospitals were so destitute of medi- 
cines, and stores of every sort, that a large number of the 
sick soldiers entered them only to die.f 

General Washington had ordered General Smallwood, 

* See Appendix F. 

I Marshall's Life of Washington, vol. v. pp. 344, 345. 



290 LIFE AND GORRESPONDENGE 

with a detachment of Continental troops (Marylanders), to 
Wilmington, and made a requisition upon the State of Dela- 
ware for militia to reinforce him. 

Mr. Read made known to the commander-in-chief of the 
American army the result of this requisition in the follow- 
ing letter. He had, as he informs him, just recovered from 
an attack of disease of three weeks' duration while on a visit 
to his family, his State was convulsed by party strife, the 
executive was not sustained, and all his efforts to induce the 
Legislature to take the measures essential to the public wel- 
fare had failed; but, instead of the language of despondency, 
we find him determined to renew his endeavors to bring this 
body to a sense of its duties, and to acts consonant with it : 

"January 19th, 17 ta. 

*' Sir, — I am sorry to inform your Excellency that our 
Legislature has not made any provision for filling up the 
battalion allotted to this State. One of our three counties 
is yet unrepresented in the House of Assembly, owing to 
the interference of the military on the day of the election. 
This step occasioned such a division among the representa- 
tives of the other counties that it was impracticable -to allay 
the ferment at two sittings, which have been had since. I 
have issued writs for calling them together a third time, 
[which] I would fain hope will be attended with better 
effects; but I cannot venture to promise for them, though 
you may be assured of every exertion on my part. Pre- 
vious to your letter of the 19th ultimo, handed me by 
General Smallwood on the 25th, I pressed General Small- 
wood to order out three recruiting-parties, one for each 
county, as the whole corps of our battalion officers could 
not be necessary for the command of about two hundred 
privates. I had two things in view, the chance of picking 
up some recruits, and the means of convincing the Legisla- 
ture that this mode of filling the battalion would be inade- 
quate. Such parties were sent out the beginning of this 
week. I am well convinced that drafting is the most 
effectual mode, and the least burdensome to the State, but 
in times like unto the present the assent of very many 
[persons] is necessary to public measures. 

"As to clothing, — I have heretofore stated to your Ex- 
cellency that its manufacture within this State always was 



OF OEORGE READ. 291 

and still is inconsiderable/'^ We lost many of our small 
stocks of sheep by the British plunderers, and the last 
year's crop of flax failed very generally. Fortune threw 
some cloths in our way lately, which will be suilicient for 
more than our battalion consists of at present, if you do 
not order otherwise. They were taken from a schooner, 
deserted by her crew, and after forced on our shore by the 
ice. Several of our people, as well as others from Jersey, 
were busily employed in gutting her, when a detachment 
of the Delaware battalion, upon the request of Brigadier 
Patterson, were sent to take into possession such [part] of 
the cargo as might be of use to the army. Cloths and 
spirits were the only two articles. A dispute arises between 
the State and those of its members who saved the goods 
from this wreck, as to the property, but in whomsoever it 
may be determined to be, I apprehend our battalion should 
have the preference as to such part of the clothing as suited 
their uniform, and, at the request of the field-officers, I 
wrote to General Smallwood, making claim to them. As 
he declined to allow the claim until he should receive your 
direction therein, I have sent you a copy of my letter to 
him, and his answer, lest, in the multiplicity of business, 
he should delay stating that claim to your Excellency. If 
decided by you in our favor the cloths may be immediately 
made up by a number of workmen whom Colonel Pope has 
collected at Dover. I do not mean by this step any dis- 
trust of General Smallwood, or wish for your determination 
but through him, yet I know how much his time is taken 
up with supplying the defect of duty in others, particularly 
the commissary of purchases department, of which, I be- 
lieve, he has great reason to complain, as well as the in- 
habitants of New Castle and Chester Counties. The person 
I particularly allude to is a Mr. Higgins, whose credit 
among the graziers was very low long before General Small- 
wood came to Wilmington. His certificates, his mode of 
pay[ment], may be purchased at a considerable discount. 
This is such a discouragement that a great part of the sup- 

* The population of Delaware in 1775 was estimated at thirty-seven 
thousand. As there was no general enumeration of the people of the 
United States till 1790, this estimate is conjectural, but may be accepted 
as at least approximating the truth. — Compendium of the United Slates 
Census, p. 39. 



292 LIFE AND GOBRESPONDENGE 

plies lately have been gotten by stealth or force, and it is 
the more so as a Mr. McGarraont, in the neighboring county 
of Kent, pays regularly for the like articles within his dis- 
trict. I expect the number of our graziers will be greatly 
diminished in the ensuing season, as well from the situation 
of many of our feeding-grounds on the shore of the river 
as the irregular conduct of the purchasing commissary, and 
his agents. 

"I issued orders, immediately on the receipt of your 
letter of the 19 th of December, for the march of General 
Patterson's brigade, consisting of thirty-one hundred of the 
militia of New Castle County, to join General Smallwood 
at Wilmington, agreeably to your requisition, but true it is 
that a very few obeyed, the penalty prescribed in the militia 
law being so small, and the mode of punishment for such 
refusal is so tedious, that we have little power to exercise 
over delinquents. I have repeated the orders as to this 
county, and included the county of Kent therein, and shall 
urge the Legislature, on their meeting (the 17th instant), to 
devise some more speedy and effectual way than the present 
to compel their immediate service, 

"My situation is rather an unlucky one, in a government 
very deficient in its laws, and those greatly relaxed in their 
execution, and a Legislature as yet incomplete, and not dis- 
posed to unite and give aid to the executive authority. I 
should have informed your Excellency of the fate of my 
orders before, but I was taken unwell on a visit I made to 
my family, near to the Susquehanna, in Cecil County 
[Maryland], and confined there for three weeks, and on 
my return I was told by General Smallwood that he had 
written to you on the subject, which I hope you will accept 
as an apology for this late report of mine, and 

"I am, with great respect, your most obedient servant, 

"George Read. 

"General Washington." 

William Hooper, the writer of the letter next to be 
brought to the reader's notice, was a native of Massa- 
chusetts, and graduate of Harvard University, who removed 
to North Carolina, as a better field for the practice of the 
law, soon after the disputes between Great Britain and her 
North American colonies began, in which he took an active 



OF GEORGE READ. 293 

part. He was a member of the Continental Congress from 
1774 to 1778, in which he held a respectable rank, a signer 
of the Declaration of Independence, and universally re- 
spected for his integrity and generous sacrifice of private 
interest to public duty. Of good standing as a lawyer, his 
literary taste and acquirements were considerable, and he 
was tiuent, graceful, and agreeable as a speaker and in con- 
versation. He died in 1790, aged fortj^-eight years.''' Mr. 
Read may have smiled when he read his friend's congratula- 
tions upon his promotion to the chief magistracy of Dela- 
ware, thrust on him by an event unhappy and unexpected, 
and in administering which he anticipated and encountered 
much difficulty and disappointment from the distracted 
condition of his State. It was not from want of ability 
and will to exert it to the uttermost that Mr. Read was not 
as successful as he wished in restoring harmony among his 
fellow-citizens, heated and alienated by party feuds, and 
uniting them in vigorous efforts for the great cause in which 
he was periling all he held most dear. He had too much 
equanimity to be much disturbed if censure, the due of 
others, fell upon himself. 

"Mt dear Sir, — I was favored -with yours by Colonel 
Foster, and should have been happy to have rendered him 
essential services. From your friendly mention of him, as 
well as his own personal merits, he has pretei^sions to any 
civilities in my power. Your letter was doubly acceptable, 
as it gave me information that in the general bustle you 
had escaped uninjured, and from Colonel Foster I heard of 
your late promotion, upon which I beg leave to congratulate 
you. In that, and every station of life, public or private, 
no man more earnestly wishes you honor and happiness 
than does, 

"My dear sir, your obedient, humble servant, 

" William Hooper. 

"Cape Fear, January 22d, 1778. 

"His Excellency George Read." 

The President of Congress wrote to Mr. Read as follows 
from 

* Biography of the Signers of the Declaration of Independence, vol. 
V. pp. 109-130. 



294 LIFE AND CORBESPONDENCE 

" YoRKTOWN, 30th January, 1778. 

"Sir, — Upon receipt of your favor of the 18th, I trans- 
mitted by Captain Lewis twenty blank commissions for 
private ships of war together with instructions and bonds. 
The latter, when duly executed, you will be pleased to 
return to Congress. I have received no particular com- 
mands in reply to the letter above mentioned, nor to a 
former of the 25th of November. 

" Your Honor will find, under cover of this, nine Acts of 
Congress, of the following dates, together with five extra 
copies of the two last mentioned : of the 31st July, 14th 
and 22d November, 3d, 19th, 29th, and 31st December, 
1777; 8th and 21st January, 1778. These are the whole 
which have been sent to me from the secretary's office, and 
I have waited much too long even for these. If there are 
any deficiencies I shall soon discover and supply them by 
the aid of Mr. McKean, whom I consider a valuable acqui- 
sition in Congress. 

" The House has of late been so reduced it has shown on 
some days no more than barely nine States on the floor, 
represented by writs. This criminal delinquency in the 
States may very speedily work our disgrace, for whatever 
evils may betide our army at Valley Forge may fairly be 
imputed to want of sufficient numbers of able citizens in 
Congress. There have not been for some months past 
members equal in numbers to the common drudgery of 
committees. You would be as deeply affected, sir, as I am 
were I to give you a detail of consequent evils — the certain 
loss of millions of money is, in my estimation, far from 
being the most deplorable. 

" You will also receive a letter, directed to your Honor, 
which I found, a few days ago, in the window of the court- 
house. 

" I am, with great esteem and regard, honorable sir, your 
obedient and humble servant, 

" Henry Laurens, President of Congress. 

"The Honorable George Read, Vice-President of Dela- 
ware." 

Mr. Read, with little to encourage him in the state of 
public affairs, was separated from his family, and with no 
fixed dwelling-place, as appears by the letter next inserted : 



OF GEORGE READ. 095 

"New Castle, January 31st, 1778. 

"Sir, — This being the first direct conveyance I have had 
by which I could send you a line, since my landing on this 
shore, I embrace it to acknowledge the sense I have of your 
hospitality and kindness to me when in your neighborhood 
and under your roof. The extreme hurry attending the 
removal of my family from Mr. Shinn's to Mr. Howell's 
prevented Mrs, Read's waiting on Mrs. Greenman agreeably 
to your kind invitation. Since that time Mrs. Read has 
discovered that they were acquainted with each other in 
the early part of their lives. In our passage over [the] 
Delaware we were visited by a boat's-crew, belonging to one 
of the enemy's tenders ; but there being no officer with them 
no other questions were asked than whence we came and 
whither we were going. Immediately upon gaining this 
shore I removed my family westward, near to the river 
Susquehanna, I am obliged to separate myself from them 
and spend most of my time in this and the neighboring 
county of Kent. I have been but a short time in this 
place, and must leave it soon, as the river is clearing of ice 
and the enemy's vessels of war daily expected up. We have 
a detachment of the Continental army at Wilmington, com- 
manded by General Smallwood, who took post there about 
the middle of December, and will continue at least until the 
campaign opens, by which time I hope each State will fill 
up their respective regiments in the Continental army, so 
that a decisive blow may be given to the enemy at Phila- 
delphia before they are reinforced ; it is ground for reproach 
against the Middle States that so inconsiderable a force 
should have held that city so long. I am, very respect- 
fully, yours, 

"George Read, 

"Reverend Neoemiah Greenman, Pitt's Grove, New 
Jersey, 

" I have sent the bearer for my carriage at your neighbor 
Newkerk's, etc." 

The President of Congress wrote again to Mr. Read from 

"YoRKTOWN, 9th February, 1778. 
" Sir, — I had the honor of addressing you the 30th ultimo. 
In that packet I omitted to inclose a letter which I had taken 



296 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 

up for you in the room where Congress meets, but I have 
now delivered it to the Honorable Mr. McKean. 

" This is intended to convey you an Act of Congress of 
the 3d instant, and five copies of the same, for obliging 
persons who hold appointments under Congress to qualify 
themselves for acting in their several offices by taking cer- 
tain oaths therein prescribed. You are requested, sir, to 
take the most effectual measures for publishing this act in 
the State of Delaware. 

" I have the honor to be, with great regard, sir, your 
most obedient and most humble servant, 

" Henry Laurens,* President of Congress. 

"The Honorable George Read, Esquire, Vice-President 
of Delaware." 



* Three prominent members of the Continental Congress, Hancock, 
Robert Morris, and Laurens, were merchants. 

Henry Laurens, born a.d. 1724, was descended from Huguenots, who, 
when the edict of Nantes was revoked, sought and found in South Caro- 
lina the freedom of conscience denied them in France. By his ability, 
diligence, enlightened enterprise, and integrity he acquired an ample 
fortune, with the respect and esteem of his contemporaries. At the out- 
set of the controversy between Great Britain and her North American 
colonies, being in London, for the education of his sons, he took a decided 
and active part with his countrymen. Upon his return home he was 
immediately appointed Chairman of the Committee of Safety, and was 
one of the most devoted, active, zealous, and trusted of the Whig leaders. 
In 1776 he was elected to the Continental Congress for two successive 
years, and was the President of that august assembly. In 1780 he 
was appointed envoy to Holland, on his passage to that country cap- 
tured, with his papers, among them the plan of a treaty he was to 
propose, and carried to London. Committed to the Tower, his treat- 
ment was at first lenient, but he was soon after consigned to close im- 
prisonment because he was accosted by the madman, Lord George 
Gordon, from whom he retired at once. This, the assigned reason for 
an act of cruelty, is so frivolous that it may justly be considered a mere 
pretext. Attempts were made, without success, to frighten or seduce 
him from his allegiance to his country. His constitution was broken 
and his life shortened by his confinement. Upon his release, by exchange, 
he signed, with Adams and Jay, the preliminary treaty between Great 
Britain and the United States. His appointment as one of the envoys 
on this occasion being a testimonial to the world of his eminent services 
to his country, and her gratitude for them, honorable to both, and if 
it was one drop more in the cup of humiliations Great Britain was 
then forced to drain to its dregs, it was a just retaliation for the indig- 
nities and wrongs he had endured at her bands. After this service he 
lived in retirement till 1790, when he died. 

His body, as directed by his will, was burned, — from misapprehension 



OF GEORGE READ. 297 

Mr. Greenman wrote to Mr. Read as follows from 

"PiTTSQROVE, February 9tli, 1778. 

"Honored Sir, — Yesterday I received your good letter, 
dated February 2d, 1778. I sincerely ackno\vled,n;e my un- 
worthiness of your notice, and accept it as a token of un- 
merited fiivor. We are very apprehensive that the enemy 
design a visit to this and the neighboring counties ; indeed, 
the Reverend Mr. Eakin informed me that the people at Had- 
donfield and Burlington were packing up last Friday ; the 
storm of snow may retard their motions, but if good weather 
succeeds, their appetite will be keener for plunder. I am 
grieved for your unsettled state, which I expect will soon 
be mine and numbers more in this Western division. May 
the Lord who governs the world prevent us from falling 
into their hands ! I fear the person you sent will meet with 
difficulty in getting your carriage over, as the snow is deep, 
and as yet there is no beaten road. Mrs. Greenman has 
found out by the person you sent who Mrs. Read was, and 
is much the more grieved that she had not one short inter- 
view with her while in this State, but submits to Providence. 
You, sir, kindly wished my health ; I can inform you that 

and misapplication of some texts of Scripture, and from fear of being 
buried alive, because one of his children, when apparently dead from 
small-pox, was revived when the air was admitted freely to the supposed 
corpse, having been excluded, during the illness of the child, in accord- 
ance wnth the wrong and irrational medical treatment of that loathsome 
and fatal disease, then universal. Such a disposition of the body, after 
death, may be justly condemned, because it is a departure from the 
usage of Christian communities in this matter which offends and dis- 
turbs them, and wants the solemnity, impressiveness, and consolation 
of their accustomed funeral rites. But it is not without its advantages. 
Cremation quickly dissolves the body, deserted by its immortal tenant, 
without the revolting circumstances of its decomposition in the grave ; 
and had cremation been universal, there would have been escape from 
one source of pestilence and death in the hearts of great cities, and from 
the careless and sometimes shocking disinterments, which have been too 
frequent, when the greed of gain has appropriated church-yards or the 
necessities of the living have compelled encroachment upon the man- 
sions of the dead. Cremation was never universal in any nation, being 
too expensive for the poor. It has been estimated tliat not less than 
three hundred pounds of wood were necessary to burn a corpse. The 
expense, too, increased as the country was denuded of wood, and crema- 
tion was gradually disused. Christians have always committed their 
dead to the earth, because this disposition of them seemed more accord- 
ant with the doctrine of the resurrection than burning them. 

20 



298 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 

I am much better, and, through the tender mercy of my 
God, my family are in usual health. Mrs. Greenman de- 
sires to be affectionately remembered to Mrs. Read, and 
joins in the most cordial respects to yourself, with, honored 
sir, your grateful, much obliged, and most obedient humble 
servant, 

" Nehemiah Greenman." 

I have not found among Mr. Read's papers the rough 
draft of his letter to which Mr. McKean replied as follows: 

" Sir, — Your favor of the 29 th of December did not reach 
me until the 24th of January, when, duly reflecting upon 
every circumstance, I thought it my duty to come here, 
though, I confess, I am almost tired of serving my country 
so much at my own expense. I left home on [the] 29th 
of last month, and went into Congress next morning, where 
I found only nine States represented, and, including myself, 
but eighteen members, though five, now at the camp, and 
some others are expected in a few days. I hope General 
Rodney and Major Van Dyke will come as soon as possible; 
but don't tell them that I lived in a little Dutch tavern, at 
an enormous expense, for ten days, before I could get other 
lodgings, and that I still am on sufferance. 

" The situation of Delaware gives me constant anxiety. 
The choice of representatives in October, 1776, and their 
choice of officers, have occasioned all its misfortunes. 
Nothing but effectual laws, vigorously executed, can pos- 
sibly save it, and there seems to me not the least prospect 
of the former, and when I learn that not a single step is 
taken towards collecting the fines under the present inade- 
quate militia law, or to punish the most impudent traitors, 
or even the harboring of deserters, I despair of any law, 
tending to support the freedom, independence, and sove- 
reignty of the State, being executed, especially in Kent and 
Sussex. The conduct of the General Assembly, having 
neither imposed a tax for reducing the paper bills of credit, 
nor passed the laws necessary even in times of profound 
peace, much less for completing their quota of troops, put- 
ting their militia on a respectable footing, etc. etc., is too 
conspicuous not to cause the disagreeable animadversions I 
am obliged continually to hear. 



OF GEORGE READ. 299 

" I shall endeavor to procure the account against the 
State, from the Auditor-General, as soon as possible. The 
votes of Congress, since January, 177G, [)rinted by Aitken, 
are not yet come to hand, though they have been sent out 
of Philadelphia. I shall send you all that can be got, not 
knowing to what time they are printed up. 

" Who can I propose in exchange for the President ? Do 
inform me, if you can think of any one. None occurs to 
me but Governor Franklin, and hearing a gentleman say 
that he could do more mischief than the President could do 
good, and for other reasons, which will readily suggest 
themselves to you, I have little hope of success from that 
proposition. I was told the other day that he lodged at 
widow Jenkins's, along with his old friends Robinson and 
Manlove, and seemed very happy ; these observations, and 
many others, from different gentlemen, whenever I name 
him in private to any member, almost discourage me; how- 
ever, after I hear from you, I shall attempt to have him 
released (though I could wish my colleagues to be present 
and assisting), lest it should be thought that I was indiffer- 
ent about the event. 

" Notwithstanding all the diffidence you so modestly ex- 
press of yourself, the State of Delaware think themselves 
happier, and I am sure they are in wiser hands than those 
of your predecessor. 

" In answer to your fiivor by your brother you will receive 
ten thousand dollars to be expended in recruiting only, as 
Congress have lately purchased clothing, to a very great 
amount, at Boston, etc., and the battalion will be furnished 
by the Clothier-General. If more should be wanted you 
will be pleased to write to me again, but I should advise 
that the recruiting officers should first render you an account 
of the expenditure of this sum. No letter from General 
Smallwood has yet appeared in Congress ; w^hen it does, I 
shall attend to it. The whole affiiir, in my opinion, respect- 
ing the schooner, rests with the Judge of Admiralty in the 
first place, and must be decided upon the resolves of Con- 
gress (there being none but what you have relating to this 
subject) and the laws of England. An appeal lies to Con- 
gress. The case is undoubtedly in favor of the State, and 
not the first possessor, whether a wreck or dereliction. 

"I have no news but what Major Read can tell you, and. 



300 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 

therefore, shall conclude with my best compliments to Mrs. 
Read. 

" Sir, your most obedient, humble servant, 

" Thomas McKean.* 
"York, February 12th, 1778." 

The Commander-in-Chief wrote as follows to Mr. Read 

from 

" Yalley Forge, February 18th, 1778. 

" Sir, — For reasons that will be obvious to you it is 
thought the publication of the inclosed 'Address' may an- 
swer valuable ends; and I beg leave to submit to you 
whether it may not serve to increase its effect if it were 
ushered into the papers, in your State, with a recommenda- 
tory line from yourself. If you should suppose there would 
be any impropriety in this, you will be pleased, notwith- 
standing, to commit the 'Address' itself to the printer. 

" I have the honor to be, with great respect, sir, your 
most obedient servant, 

" Geo. Washington." 

On the letter is written "Proclamation" received 28th 
Feb. 1778, per Col. Blane. Answered. 

General Washington again addressed the letter to Mr. 
Read, next inserted, from 

"Head-quarters, 22d February, 1778. 

" Sir, — Your favor of the 5th instant, inclosing a copy 
of a letter from you to General Small wood, dated the 26 th 
ultimo, and the substance of his answer, did not reach me 
till the day before yesterday. 

"It gives me great concern to find that the Legislature 
of your State has not taken timely and effectual means for 
completing the battalion belonging to it. However desira- 
ble the mode of volunteer enlistment might be, if it offered 
any adequate prospect of success, our circumstances evi- 
dently demand measures of more prompt and certain execu- 
tion. It is incumbent therefore upon your legislative body, 
as a duty which they owe both to their own State and the 
continent at large, to pursue with energy the method of 
drafting, which has been successfully practised in other 

* For notice of Thomas McKean, see Appendix H. 



OF GEOROE READ. 301 

States; indeed, I expect you will shortly be called upon 
by Congress lor this purpose. 

" The property of the clothing taken in the prize-sloop 
will, I presume, bo determined by certain resolutions of 
Congress, copies of which were sent to General Small wood, 
in order to settle a dispute of a similar nature; but how- 
ever this matter be decided, 3'ou ought undoubtedly to 
secure a sullicient quantity of this necessary article to sup- 
ply the wants of the Delaware battalion. 

"I am totally ignorant of any interruption having been 
given by the military to the election of representatives in 
your State. It is much to be lamented that, at a season 
when our affairs denuind the most harmony and greatest 
vigor in all public proceedings, there should be any languor 
occasioned by divisions. Your efforts cannot be better em- 
plojed than in conciliating the discordant parties, and 
restoring union. 

"The complaints against the commissaries of purchases, 
I fear, are too well founded. Such orders shall be given to 
the principal of the department for this district as will, I 
hope, in some degree remedy the evils complained of 

"I have the honor to be, with great respect, sir, your 
most obedient servant, 

"Geo. Washington. 

"The Hon. George Read, Esquire, Vice-President of the 
State of Delaware." 

The next letter from Mr. Read to the Commander-in-Chief 
was written from 

"Dover, March 2d, 11 V8. 

"Sir, — Your favor of the 26th of February was handed 
to me by Captain Lee, who was mistaken in his representa- 
tion that there was no law in the State to punish the har- 
boring of deserters. Such a law was enacted in February, 
1777, upon your recommendation, and the mode of recover- 
ing the penalties therein is both easy and expeditious. It 
may be said, and I think with justice, that these penalties 
are now too small, owing, in some degree, to the rapid de- 
preciation of the currency of the States, and you may rely 
on my laying this before the General Assembly, who, un- 
doubtedly, will remedy this defect. What may be the 
number of deserters among us, or the conduct of the people 



302 LIFE AND GOBRESPONDENGE 

generally towards them, I will not venture to say positively, 
but upon the best information I have as yet obtained, I 
suspect the representation made to you is exaggerated. So 
far as this may extend to Captain Lee, he is no otherwise 
chargeable than [for] relying on the information of some 
of the military that were here before him, who speak and 
act at random. 

"Your favors of the 18th and 22d February were de- 
livered to me by Colonel Blane. I have ordered copies of 
your inclosed 'Address' to be made, and circulated through- 
out the State, as we have no newspapers printed within it. 
At the first meeting of the General Assembly I laid before 
them your favor of the 19th of January, recommending 
the method of drafting as the only effectual one to complete 
their battalion, but they have not adopted it. Instead 
thereof they increased the bounty to the recruit by adding 
forty-five dollars, and gave a premium of thirty-five more 
to the officer who enlists him. In this I learn the mem- 
bers were very unanimous. Could this have been done in 
November last, it might have answered the end, but I think 
it inadequate now. The officers, since this vote, have en- 
listed about fifty persons. You had just cause to express 
your concern that the Legislature had not taken timely and 
effectual means for raising their quota of troops, as you 
knew it had been specially required by Congress in their 
resolutions of the 17th of October last, but neither those 
resolves nor any others, passed since the battle of Brandy- 
wine, were transmitted to us till the lOtli of February last; 
all those transmitted before fell into the hands of the 
enemy, with our President, which I made known to Con- 
gress in November. 

"As to clothing, — I have reason to believe we shall 
have a sufficiency for the beginning of the campaign, in- 
cluding that taken from the wrecked schooner I mentioned 
to you in my last letter, but my intelligence from Congress, 
of the 12th of February, is that they have lately purchased 
clothing to a very great amount at Boston, and the battalion 
will be furnished by the Clothier-General. I doubt the fact, 
and know well such accounts have fatal effects, lulling the 
people at large, who are inclined to credit everything of the 
sort, into inaction, — so it has frequently happened as to the 
numbers of your army. 



OF GEORGE READ. 303 

"Your Excellency could not be supposed to know of the 
interruption given by the military to the election of repre- 
sentatives, mentioned in my hist, as the corps which occa- 
sioned it have been raised, and continued under the imme- 
diate direction of Congress. Had it been otherwise, I should 
have explained the conduct to you. An election hath been 
ordered [by the Legislature] at their [late] meeting, and 
this is the day for the holding of it. I have hopes we shall 
do better. 

" Believe me, sir, I feel for your situation : it is a delicate 
one, and I well know that you have not that support 
which it is our (I mean the Middle States) duty and inter- 
est to aflbrd you ; however, I shall use my best endeavors 
in this small department to further it, and I am, with great 
esteem and respect, your most obedient servant, 

" George Read. 

" General Washington." 

Mr. Read replied as follows to Mr. McKean's letter of 
the 12th of February, 1778, from 

"Dover, March 4tli, 1778. 

"Sir, — Your favor of the 12th ultimo was delivered to 
me by Major Read, with ten thousand dollars for the re- 
cruiting service, which I immediately put into the hands 
of General Rodney to distribute among the officers now out 
upon that business, who have orders to state their expendi- 
tures, and report them upon their next application for 
moneys. You have inclosed a copy of some resolutions of 
the General Assembly for the more speedy filling up of our 
battalion, by an addition of bounty, and a premium to the 
officers, in which I am authorized to apply to Congress for 
a loan of forty thousand dollars. Such is the state of our 
funds [as you well know] that this must be the mode of 
supply, therefore I request you to obtain that sum, and 
deliver it to the bearer, Lieutenant William Frazier, who 
I send for the purpose. A less sum will not do, as much 
will be expended in the subsistence [of the recruits], and 
the expense of these special expresses is great. By report, 
some of the offiicers have had considerable success already 
in recruiting — in the whole about fifty men. Yet I cannot 
believe the number wanted will be made up in this way ; 
the General Assembly have thought otherwise, and would 



304 LIFE AND CORBESPONDENCE 

not consent to the mode of drafting, though warmly recom- 
mended by General Washington, as the only probable 
and effectual way, and on this occasion I am told members 
were very unanimous. A bill for holding an election in 
Sussex, on the 2d instant, being passed, the Assembly ad- 
journed over to this day. The situation of this State is 
much to be lamented, though I think you have heightened 
it in your coloring. I doubt all your intelligence respecting 
it is not well founded ; bad we are, and too many affect to 
screen themselves by railing at what is and what is not 
done, without contributing to a remedy, — for instance, as to 
the militia law. Not the warmest Whig, or most violent 
complainer of the times (being an officer of the militia), has 
taken one step to carry any part thereof into execution, 
which will have this bad consequence, that much greater 
difficulties must attend the carrying any future law of the 
sort into execution, as well as a total loss of the fines, under 
the present law, however inadequate, which by this time 
would have made a useful fund. A great mistake among 
many of us has been to set at naught such acts of legisla- 
tion as do not exactly tally with our own sentiments; this 
has a fatal tendency at all times, but particularly at the 
present, making each individual a judge of what he ought 
and of what he ought not to submit to. Not a single reso- 
lution of Congress was transmitted to me since I came into 
the Presidency till the 10th ultimo, but the two you sent 
relating to the trade carried on by the disaffected, a want 
of representation in Congress, and the appointment of a day 
of thanksgiving, though I wrote to the President of Con- 
gress, on the 25th November, for copies of such as this 
State ought, or was expected to act upon ; every public 
paper transmitted to President McKinley being lost to us. 
Mr. President Laurens (to whom I beg you to present my 
compliments and thanks) did at last obtain some copies 
from the Secretary's office, which he inclosed with a line of 
the 30th January, delivered to me by Parson Montgomery 
on the 10th ultimo, as mentioned before ; but he omitted a 
very essential one, the Plan of Confederation, though he sent 
a copy of the recommendatory resolve to invest the dele- 
gates with power to assent thereto. For my own part, I 
had not seen it till I accidentally laid my hands on a printed 
copy belonging to Cecil County, where my family are. 



OF GEORGE READ. 305 

Mentioning this, leads me to ask what you think of some 
particuhir expressions tlierein, to wit : 'provided also that 
no State shall be deprived of territory for the benefit of the 
United States/ — in the last of the second section, article 
nine; and in the same article, section fourth, 'regulating 
the trade, and managing all affairs with the Indians, not 
members of any of the States, provided that the legislative 
right of any State, within its own limits, be not infringed 
or violated.' In the 8th article, providing for a common 
treasury, in proportion to the value of all land within each 
State, granted, or surveyed by any person; query, What 
ought to be the extent or limits of the territory of Virginia 
or Massachusetts? if not the absurd claim to the South 
Sea, is it not necessary to be settled now? Query, Is it a 
practicable scheme to value the lands of the continent for 
taxation ? If so, query, if the States who have known and 
very small limits ought to have every foot of their land 
rated for the protection of the ungranted lands in these 
boundless empires? Query, If such a fund may not be 
formed in the boundless States from the grants of lands as 
will tend to diminish the present inhabitants of the other 
States by migrations there, and discourage European set- 
tlers from fixing in the bounded States? Query, If they 
[the boundless States] may not prove dangerous to the 
liberties of America from their extent and internal strength? 
I will not add to this list; these are terrifying to me, and 
sufficiently account for the speedy approbation, as puljlished, 
from those two States ; and, besides, I, with a multitude of 
others, have been taught to expect that all lands not pur- 
chased from or ceded by the Indians to the king of Great 
Britain, as the proprietor of the colonies, were to be con- 
sidered as belonging to the United States genendly, and 
might procure for them a fund to pay our great deljt with? 
I have my doubts as to the whole of the third section, 
article nine: will it not have a bad effect upon our State? 
But to return to the subject of the resolves of Congress, and 
particularly those relating to our quota of troops, and their 
clothing, they could not be acted upon till made known, 
and the same may be said of laying a tax, for sinking our 
proportion of five millions of dollars, in the present year; 
with this that the military in Sussex, established by Con- 
gress, independent of any authority in this State, prevented 



306 LIFE AND COBBESPONDENGE 

a representation from a third of the taxables thereof, for 
the time past, and according to the American creed repre- 
sentation is necessary for taxation. Much more might be 
added to lessen the charges made against us; yet I am 
satisfied much must be done to wipe off such as are justly 
founded. I own the prospect is rather gloomy, but we are 
not to despair. No man is in a more difficult and unlucky 
situation than myself Without any fixed habitation in the 
State, with little assistance or prospect of assistance, [and] 
in want of health and ability of body, I will not add of 
mind, though also true, lest I be suspected of seeking a 
compliment. 

"I showed Generals Rodney and Patterson that part of 
your letter which related to President McKinley; neither 

of them or myself had heard of his lodging with , and 

General Rodney thinks it cannot be, for he has been told 

by those who knew, ai!d might be relied on, that was 

at , and at one 's, a shoemaker, and had lodged 

there from the time of his going into Philadelphia. General 
Rodney says the President now lodges at one 's, oppo- 
site Christ Church. I cannot pretend to point out a person 
to exchange for the President, but submit it to you, on a 
review of the list of prisoners on the civil line under the 
immediate direction of Congress, which General Washing- 
ton seems to refer to in a paragraph of his letter to me on 
that subject, an extract from which, I think, you have in 
mine of the 29th of December last. As to the presence of 
your colleagues on this or any other occasion, shortly, you 
are not to expect it. Mr. Rodney is very necessary here, 
and as to Mr. Van Dyke, the situation of his family will 
keep him for awhile. For my own part, I think it a 
piece of justice due to every captive to procure his release 
as soon as practicable, upon honorable terms; and as to the 
President and his unlucky captivity, I am convinced he 
meant to support the cause of America to the utmost of his 
power, and I therefore wish you success in the application. 

"The bad weather we have had has delayed the express 
to this day (the 9th of March), which enables me to inclose 
you a list of the members for Sussex. The most of them 
came to town last evening, and only three members from 
New Castle County, so that we have not had a House since 
the 25th ultimo. Mr. Rodney says that he has nearly 



OF GEOnOE BEAD. 307 

paid the ten thousand dollar.s to the recruiting ofTicers, one of 
wlioin, Lieutenant ]5rown, came in yesterday from Marshy 
Hope Bridge, where he had enlisted fourteen men on tlie 
Friday preceding, all volunteers, who came in for the pur- 
pose, so that our prospect is very flattering in this way at 
present. Fail not to obtain the loan, and give despatch to 
the messenger, a lieutenant in the troop of horse of this 
county, and you will oljlige him, as well as your most 
obedient servant, 

"George Read. 
"Honorable Thomas McKean." 

Mr. McKean replied as follows to this letter, from 

" YoRKTOWN, April 3(1, 1778. 

"Sir, — When I attended the General Assembly of this 
State, in December last, they obtained a promise that I 
would give a little assistance in drafting some bills, at 
their adjournment in March, at which time I accordingly, 
in pursuance of a letter from the Speaker, went to Lancas- 
ter, and, having stayed there ten days, returned to York on 
the 19th. During the interval your favor of the 4th of 
March, by Lieutenant Frazier, arrived at York, and by the 
advice of the express, was opened by the President, and 
read in Congress. It was well there was nothing private 
in it, and I must confess you gave me piore agreeable pros- 
pects of our little State, and more sincere pleasure, than 
anything relating to it had done for three years past. I 
congratulate you on the Whig election in Sussex. With 
such a General Assembly as the present, what could T have 
done, or rather, what could I not have do? Sure I am you 
w^ill make a proper use of this most fortunate occurrence, 
in which there appears visibly the hand of Providence, 
which can alone save this deluded State. Though the re- 
solve for completing the quota of troops by drafting in the 
several States passed against my consent, yet as Virginia, 
Maryland, Pennsylvania, the four New England States, 
etc. have agreed to it, I should have been glad even if the 
General Assembly had proceeded no further in this business; 
this would have showed a respect for the recommendation 
of Congress, encouraged the recruiting service by making 
it the interest of every individual in the State, and pre- 



308 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 

vented an opinion that I had wrote to the General Assem- 
bly against the measure, which I never did, nor, indeed, 
did I ever hint the matter to any person whatever. 

"As to the proviso in the second section of article ninth 
of the Confederation, quoted by you, to wit, ^provided that 
no State shall be deprived of territory for the benefit of the 
United States,' my opinion is that it must be referred to the 
subject-matter of the preceding paragraph, and may, by a 
fair construction, mean that in a contest between two States 
respecting boundaries, the territory taken from the one 
shall be added to the other, and not adjudged for the benefit 
of the United States; and yet, I confess, I have apprehen- 
sions that it may hereafter be insisted to mean w^iat you 
seem to fear. Some gentlemen with whom I have con- 
versed on this affair say, if the intention of Congress was 
that Virginia, etc. should be deemed at present to extend 
to the South Sea, yet no injury could arise from thence to 
any of the United States, for that Delaware, for instance, 
has a right to apply for one or more townships for their 
troops, to be laid out equally with Virginia in that State, 
without paying any purchase-money, or any other expense, 
more than that of surveying, which Virginians themselves 
must pay; and that if that State increases its inhabitants 
it will have more to pay towards the support of the govern- 
ment of the United States, and in the same proportion 
lessen the burden of the other States; but if Virginia, etc. 
grow too large, the people themselves will insist upon a new 
State or States to be erected, even if Congress should be 
passive, and no good reason can be assigned for refusing- 
such a requisition whenever it may be proper to grant it. 
The Stockbridge Indians in New Hampshire and Connecti- 
cut, the Oneidas in New York, etc., were, I suppose, the 
objects of the fourth section of the same article. The 
third section of the ninth article seems to have been cal- 
culated for the disputed lands of purchasers under Maryland 
and Delaware, and Maryland and Pennsylvania; but upon 
the whole, it may not be an improper method of adjusting 
such controversies. If Delaware had been represented in 
Congress at the time the finishing was given to the Confed- 
eration it would, I am persuaded, have been a public benefit 
as well as a particular one to that State; but matters are 
too far gone, I fear, to j)i^ocure any alterations, so many 



OF GEOIiGE READ. 309 

States have already empowered their delegates to ratify it; 
however, I will exert every nerve to accomplish any meas- 
ure which shall be recommended by my constituents, who 
may think it advisable to direct their deputies to endeavor 
to procure any explanation of certain doubtful expressions 
in dillerent articles, if they should not think it proper to 
do more. 

" Nothing has been effected with regard to President 
McKinley ; but as the cartel for the general exchange is 
now debating and settling between three commissioners on 
the part of General Washington and the like number on 
the part of General Howe, in Germantown, where they met 
on the last day of March, I hope in a few weeks something 
favorable for him may be done. 

" If you can procure any clothing for the Delaware bat- 
talion it may be useful, but I am confident there is sufilcient 
for the whole army already purchased by Congress for above 
a year, and yet I am told the most of the troops are naked. 
Peculation, neglect of duty, avarice, and insolence in most 
departments abound, but, with the favor of God, I shall 
contribute my part to drag forth and punish the culprits, 
though some of them are high in rank, and characters I did 
not suspect. 

" You will also receive a little pamphlet of the Earl of 
Abington, which is worth your perusal. General Rodney 
is not yet arrived, nor could I procure a lodging for him in 
town when he comes; indeed, when I return 1 shall be at 
an equal loss for myself. This is discouraging, but we must 
not expect much comfort during this great and glorious 
struggle. It is reported Howe is recalled, and is to be suc- 
ceeded by Lord Townshend. This will be an active and, 
I fear, a bloody campaign. 

" I find you give up the command-in-chief to General 
Rodney, so that perhaps it may suit you to come to Con- 
gress. 

'' I am, sir, your most obedient servant, 

" Thomas McKean. 

"Hon. George Read." 

As the persistence of the mother-country in her measures, 
short-sighted and mistaken, as they were selfish and unjust, 
widened the breach between her and her colonies, the Con- 



310 LIFE AND COERESPONDENGE 

tinental Congress, elected to obtain redress of intolerable 
grievances, was compelled to assume the powers of a con- 
federacy of States, without waiting for the formal grant of 
them, to levy armies, issue and borrow money, appoint 
diplomatic agents, and generally to regulate the internal 
and foreign affairs of their country. This loose connection 
of thirteen independent communities sufficed only for a 
brief period, for its inadequacy for home government was 
soon apparent, and it was in no long time evident that for- 
eign nations, whose aid was necessary to secure independ- 
ence, would not treat with a confederacy existing only by 
force of circumstances or tacit understanding. A formal 
and written compact between these thirteen communities 
was therefore indispensable. "Articles of Confederation" 
were reported by a committee of Congress, 12th July, 1776. 
They were, after earnest and protracted debates, from time 
to time, adopted, 15th November, 1777, and transmitted by 
Congress to the Legislatures of the several States, with its 
earnest and eloquent recommendation that they should 
authorize the ratification of these articles. It was next to 
impossible that any plan of common government could be 
framed for thirteen independent States, who, though having 
so many things in common as to be one people, — Chris- 
tians, Anglo-Saxons by race, inheritors of the British Con- 
stitution, common law, language, literature, and high 
civilization, — ^yet differed in climate, productions, customs, 
manners, religious tenets, and forms of worship. The 
wonder was not that there were points of difference, but 
that there were not more. There were several objections 
to the "Articles of Confederation," but the principal ones 
were — 1st, to the mode of voting in Congress, some States 
holding that it should be by States, others according to 
population and wealth; 2d, to the rule for apportioning 
taxes among the States; and 3d, to the disposition of vacant 
and unpatented western lands. The phraseology of the 
charters, upon which were founded the extravagant claims 
of States to lands from the Atlantic to the Pacific, is ob- 
scure, indefinite, and contradictory;"^ but these claims were 



The western boundaiy in several of the charters of the North Ameri- 
can colonies is the South Sea, and the great extent of these grants was 
a matter of profound policy, the object being to appropriate as much 



OF GEORGE READ. 311 

reduced within narrower limits by the treaty of Paris, of 
17G3, by convention between the colonies in regard to dis- 
puted boundaries and decisions of the home government/'' 
It was contended that the title to these lands west of the 
then western frontier of the United States was never in 
any of the colonies, but had always been in the king, and 
so far as not alienated by him was the property in common 
of all the colonies through right of conquest effected by 
their common blood, money, and sacrifices. From fear of 
the disastrous consequences of disunion, interest, necessity, 
and from, no doubt, patriotic motives, the States objecting 
to the Articles of Confederation withdrew their opposition 
soon after July, 1778, and by their delegates signed the 
" Articles," except New Jersey, who ratified them in No- 
vember of that year, Delaware, who ratified in February, 
1779, and Maryland, that ratified in 1781. This bone of 
contention was removed, as many difficulties threatening 
great perils have since been, by compromise — the cession 
of these lands, upon conditions, to the United States for 

of the North American continent as possible (a settlement on one part 
of a grant being held to give the possession of the whole), and so to 
strengthen the claim of England against France or any other nation. 

Three things were required to render the title to lands perfect, — 1st, 
a grant or charter from the king; 2d, a purchase of the soil from the 
Indians ; 3d, possession. 

"If all the colonies in North America," wrote Pratt, afterwards Lord 
Camden, " were to remain bounded, at this day, in point of right, as they 
are descril)ed in their charters, I do not believe there is one settlement 
there that has not been encroached upon or else has usurped upon its 
neighbors, so that if the grants themselves were the only rule between 
contending plantations, there would be no end to disputes, without un- 
settling large tracts of land, where the inhabitants have no better title to 
produce than possession or posterior grants, which would be, in point 
of law, superseded by charters." " Hence many other circumstances 
must be taken into consideration besides the parchment boundary, for 
that may at this day be extended or narrowed by possession, acquies- 
cence, or agreement,' and by the situation and condition of the territory 
at the time of the grant." — Miner's Hidorn of Wyoming, pp. OC), 67,79, 80. 

In the charter of the " Great Plymouth Council" and the charters of 
Massachusetts and Connecticut carved out of it, there is an express 
grant of the land (Ibid., pp. G4, G6, G7) within their limits, and the 
South Sea is their western boundary; and so in the charters of several 
of the Southern colonies. 

* In the case of Virginia, for example, to the lands bounded north by 
the Lakes and west by the Mississippi. 



312 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 

their common benefit, New York leading in this generous 
and truly patriotic measure. 

The share of Mr. Read in the ratification by Delaware 
will hereafter appear. 

Mr. Read was, as appears by Thomas McKean's letter of 
April 3d, 1777 (ante, p. 309), relieved from the Presidency 
of Delaware in that month or about that period, CiBsar 
Rodney having been elected to this office (which Mr. Read 
declined) and entered upon the discharge of its duties. 

The following letter is characteristic of Mr. Read, who 
was not only of the strictest integrity, but scrupulously 
avoided everything which might bring into suspicion his 
dealings with public men : 

"New Castle, August 25tb, 1718. 

"Sir, — I am now applied to by Mr. Davis, of Kent County, 
on your behalf, to attend the Court of Oyer and Terminer 
and General Jail Delivery, to be held the 7th of next 
month at Lewistown. He informs me that you left with 
him one hundred pounds, to be given, as part of a fee, for 
tliis service, and that you have authorized him to say that 
you will give me as much more as I shall think I ought to 
have. Mr. Davis also mentions that he has heard that 
Dorman Loftland expects to apply to me to defend him at 
the same court. The last part of your proposal is by no 
means satisfactory to me, as I do not wish upon this or any 
other occasion to be considered my own carver, or bringing 
persons into such a situation as that I may exact unreason- 
ably from them. I choose to let you know my terms so 
long beforehand that if you do not approve of them you 
may have the opportunity of applying elsewhere. My 
terms are that I shall receive from you five hundred pounds, 
certain, for m}^ attendance at the court, and for this sum I 
will, if necessary, defend you, as counsel, in any one or 
two indictments that may be exhibited to that court against 
you, though if more I shall expect some further allowance ; 
but if you have only one charge to apprehend I would for 
this sum also engage to defend, as counsel, Mr. Loftland on 
any one indictment or charge against him, under the act of 
Assembly commonly styled the Treason-Act, and specially 
referred to in the Oblivion or Pardon-Act, in which he is 
excepted by name. I have included Mr. Loftland in this 
proposal that you may have it in your power to lessen the 



OF GEORGE READ. 313 

expense with respect to yourself, if you shall think fit. 
I have been particular in confining my defence of him to 
charges under the Treason-Act, because I know there is a 
charge of another nature I will be at liberty to decline un- 
dertaking, if I shall choose so to do, upon a further and 
better information. The situation of my business and 
affairs at this place is such that it will be extremely incon- 
venient to me to go such a distance from them, and there- 
fore I cannot engage my attendance upon more moderate 
terms, so that if you expect me I must know it some days 
before to be prepared for the occasion. This from yours, 
etc., 

" George Read. 
" To Doctor Rench, Sussex County." 

On this letter is indorsed, " Draft of a letter delivered to 
Mr. Davis, a representative in Assembly for Kent County, 
to be delivered by him to Dr. Rench." 

As the fee proposed in the above letter would be paid in 
depreciated bills of credit, which creditors could not refuse, 
if tendered,* it is much less than its nominal amount, and 
was not immoderate for defending two, and perhaps three 
or four, cases of the gravest character, and making a long 
journey to do so, with the inconvenience and loss by reason 
of absence from his home. 

Dr. McKinley, who had been permitted to return to his 
home on parole, solicits, in the following letter, Mr. Read's 
good offices to effect his exchange : 

"Wilmington, 29th August, 1778. 
" Dear Sir, — I am still of opinion that the application 
to Congress for my exchange had better be made by the 
Council, who are best acquainted with my conduct and pro- 

* Congress resolved that whosoever should rate gold or silver coin 
higher than bills of credit ought to be deemed an enemy to the liberties 
of the United States and to forfeit the money of whicli this difference in 
value was made, and Congress recommended the States to pass laws to 
this effect, and to make bills of credit a legal tender in payment of debts, 
which should be forfeited hj refusal to so receive them, which was done 
by the States. — MarshalPs Life of Wa^hinglon, vol. iii. pp. 43, 44. 
The depreciation of this paper-money was shown by the enormous 
prices of articles. See Mr. Read's letter to General Washington, ante, 
page 285. 

21 



314 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 

ceedings, and therefore may express themselves with less 
reserve and caution than the President thought it necessary 
to use in the letter he intended for the President of Con- 
gress according to the copy he showed me ; and considering 
the pains my old friends have taken to prejudice Congress 
against me, perhaps it might be proper to give a detail of 
my services. I was in hopes of being able to wait upon 
you to consult upon the mode of applying, and I am certain 
all the Council would be glad of your assistance, but my 
lameness prevents ; in the mean time I have drawn a rough 
sketch of a resolution, for your amendment, or rather to 
furnish you with some hints to draw a better, which I am 
well assured you can easily do, especially as you may have 
some leisure to-morrow. Pray oblige me herein, as you 
have often done before on other occasions, but never in one 
wherein I was so much interested. If in my power I will 
go and see you on Monday morning, and then I may be 
able to express my meaning much better by word of mouth 
than in so short a letter, but in the mean time pray proceed. 

" I am, with sincere esteem, yours affectionately, 

"John McKinley. 

" To the Honorable George Read, Esquire, New Castle, 
per favor of Colonel Bedford." 

Mr. Read, being relieved not only from the chief magis- 
tracy of Delaware, but from attendance upon the Continental 
Congress, had now respite from public engagements, to which 
he had been devoted from the beginning of the disputes be- 
tween the colonies and parent-country. I find nothing more 
of his correspondence for the remaining portion of 1778, and 
conjecture that it was devoted mainly to professional and 
private business, though being still a member of the Council 
of Delaware he must have taken some part in public affairs. 



OF GEORGE READ. 315 



APPENDICES TO CHAPTER IV. 



FAIRS. 



Without the retail trade the richer class of a community could ol)tain 
necessary commodities at greatly enhanced prices, but the poor, not at 
all. In newly-settled territories the retail trade would be very limited, 
for two reasons, — the scarcity of capital, and its being attracted to the 
purchase of land, which, being cheap and virgin, would offer the best 
investment. But the wants of sparsely-inhabited regions have been 
supplied, in the absence of stores, by pedlars and fairs. In the very 
infancy of territories the pedlar was the only means of supply ; in the 
defect of roads and bridges, he made his way into the very heart of 
these countries, threading the forests by bridle-paths, and crossing the 
streams on fallen trees, his stock in trade on his back, and his yard- 
stick in his hand. At every farm-bouse he met a hearty welcome, for 
in every one there were wants to be supplied and superfluous articles 
to be sold or bartered, if not of too much bulk for him to carry away ; for 
example, — mittens and stockings, into which the industry of wives and 
daughters had manufactured the fleeces of the few sheep upon each farm. 
The good wives of every farm-house replenished, as was needed, their 
stocks of pins and needles, threads and bobbins and buttons, and 
scissors and thimbles. Besides, there would be knives for the men, and 
perhaps pipes, and buckles for their shoes and stocks ; with clumsy 
broaches, and gaudy calicoes and ribbons, to tempt the damsels. And 
when his sales were made, the pedlar, after sharing, with hearty wel- 
come, the abundant and wholesome and maybe coarse meal of his rustic 
customers, ensconced in the capacious chimney-place, opened his fardel 
of news, and, with the latest gossip of the neighborhood, recounted 
occurrences in the colonies and events abroad, pregnant often with great 
results. But the main provision for the retail trade was the establish- 
ment of fairs. In Pennsylvania and Delaware, soon after their settle- 
ment, fairs were allowed (as is declared by the act of Assembly 
abolishing them in Kent and Sussex, by charters or letters-patent 
from their governors or proprietaries, or by acts of their assemblies, 
for lack of stores and markets for the produce of the country.* The 
sales at these fairs must have been by the importers, through their 
agents, or by men who bought the goods from the importers, and 
sold them on their own account. I have found among my grand- 
father's papers, an almanac for 1747, which appears to have be- 

* Delaware Laws, vol. ii. pp. 818, 819. 



316 LIFE AND COBRESPONDENCE 

longed to one Ezekiel Sykes, so small (it is four inches long by 
two broad) that it might have been felt for and not readily grasped 
in the capacious pockets of Ezekiel's day. This almanac has appended 
to it tables of the births of the royal family of England, of the times of 
holding courts in Pennsylvania, Jersey, Maryland, and New England, 
of Quaker meetings, of roads, weights of coins, and of times of holding 
fairs. They were held in Wilmington, Delaware, April 28th and 
October 24th; New Castle, 3d of May and 3d of November; Chester, 
5th May and 5th October; and Philadelphia, 16th May and 16th 
October, etc. By almanacs of my grandfather's it appears there were 
changes in the days of holding these fairs.* In 1158, 1767, and 1769 
they were held at Wilmington, May 9th and November 4th ; New 
Castle, May 14th and November 14th ; Chester, 16th May and 16th 
November; Philadelphia, 27th May and 27th November, and Dover, 
April 21st and 12th October, etc. To these fairs came the people for 
miles around the towns where they were held, the young generally on 
horseback, but the farmers and their dames, with the superfluous pro- 
ducts of domestic industry, in their rude wagons, to supply the wants 
of the next six months, and all in their best attire to enjoy the holi- 
day. There was a tempting display, in the booths built for the occa- 
sion, of the various articles from " home," suited to their wants and 
their tastes. There were puppet-shows and jugglers, no lack of penny- 
trumpets, drums, and wooden guns for the boys, and dolls for the girls. 
The young men were soon contending in athletic sports, — pitching bars, 
jerking bullets, running, boxing, and wrestling, with many hard blows 
and hard falls and rough jests, while their sweethearts, in their rustic 
finer}^, and with the coquetry natural to the sex, admiringly looked on. 
The merry tunes of many fiddles soon lured the young men and maid- 
ens to the dance ; and, alas ! there were booths where liquors were sold, 
with the usual consequence, drunkenness and brawls. AVhile the elders 
bargained, the young ones courted. It was, indeed, a strange scene of 
business and frolic. AVith general fair dealing there was some over- 
reaching. These fairs long survived the necessity for them, for they 
were holidays dear to the people ; at last the sense of their evils 
became strong enough to take the form of a law for their suppression, 
but it was not until the 4th of June, 1785, when an act, entitled "An 
act for the suppression of public fairs and marts in the counties of New 
Castle and Kent," Avas passed. f In the preamble to this act it is 
declared that the liberty granted by charters, letters-patent, and subsist- 
ing laws to hold fairs had been abused by setting up booths for the 
sale of strong liquors and other superfluities, by which many imprudent 
persons, especially young people and servants, have been tempted to 
purchase those liquors and use them to excess, and to lay out large 
sums in the purchase of articles of no real use or benefit; and quarrels 

* There are, moreover, two pithy maxims whicli I extract for the benefit of 
my readers : 

" Compute the pence of but one clay's expense, 
So many pounds, angels, groats, and pence 
Are spent in a whole year's circumference." 
" One week's expense in farthings makes appear 
The shillings and pence expended in a year," 
f Laws of Delaware, vol. ii. p. 819. 



OF GEORGE BEAD. 317 

have been excited, and almost every species of vice and immorality 
practised, to the scandal of relinfion and the \i^v'wX and annoyance of the 
virtuous part of the community. It is adtied that the numerous stores 
throughout the State, and ready markets for the sale of produce, made 
these fairs unnecessary, and that a respectable number of citizens had 
petitioned for their suppression. Why Sussex County was not included 
in this act I do not know, unless fairs had never been held there ; 
that no i)laces in that county are mentioned in the tables of fairs in the 
ancient ahnanacs I have cited gives some plausibility to this conjecture. 
To complete the history of fairs in Delaware, 1 add, that February 3d, 
1802, an act was i)assed authorizing- them to be held at Georgetown 
and Broad Creek in Sussex, Dover in Kent, and Middletown in New 
Castle County, for the sale of live stock, country produce, and manufac- 
tures, except spirituous liquors. But January 20tii, 1802, an act of 
Assembly was passed repealing this act, which will be thought a 
model act by those who have been perplexed and worried by the pro- 
lixity of statutes ; it is of marvellous brevity : " Whereas, the act afore- 
said' (of 3d February, 1802, for the holding of fairs in the several 
counties of this State) hath not been found to answer the purposes 
therein contemplated, be it enacted that the before-recited act, and every 
part thereof, be and is hereby repealed, made null and void."* 



LIST OF ABLE-BODIED ASSOCIATOUS IN THE COMPANY UNDER MY COMMAND. 

ANSWERS. 

Slaytor Clay, Will not march. 

Richard Janvier, Will not march. 

John Powell, Ready and willing to march. 

David Morton, Same. 

George Read, Ready and willing to march. 

Thomas Cooch, Jr., Ready and willing to march. 

Robert Wiley, I'm damn'd if I march. 

Edward Sweeney, Family in distress. 

James Wilson, Hired one in his [)lace. 

Stephen Enos Absent. 

James Limerick, Ready and willing to march. 

John Booth, Jr., Substitute in Continental army. 

Samuel Janvier, I\cady and willing. 

Joseph Tatlow, Will not march. 

Joseph Booth, Substitute Continental army. 

Sampson Smith, Will not march. 

Daniel Smith, Son in his place,— drummer. 



* Laws of Delaware, vol. iii. p. 281. See the last paragraph of Appendix C. 



318 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 

William Clarke, Ready and willing. 

James Faith, Will not march. 

James Boyd, Family in distress. 

Samuel Hanah, Ready and willing. 

Francis Janvier, Will not march. 

Robert McElcherin, Same. 

Thomas Clay, Substitute in Continental army. 

William Scott, Willing to march, — made wag'r. 

William Farren, Will not march. 

John Enos, Absent. 

William Hazlett, I never will march. 

Jos. M. Strand, Absent. 

Alexander Montgomery, . . . Sick. 

George Booth, Ready and willing to march. 

William Kirk, Ready and willing to march. 

Adam Dyet, Same. 

Robert McGinnis, Absent. 

Daniel Lewis, Willing to march. 

William Aiken, Same. 

James McDonald, Same. 

Adam Sankey, Will not march. 

Patrick McCormack, .... Same. 

James Morton, Same. 

Thomas Booth, Substitute in Continental army. 

James Riddle, ...... Sick. 

John Price, Absent. 

Andrew Morton, Neglected. 

Samuel Harris, Will not march. 

James Carter, Family in distress. 

John Yanleuveneigh, .... Willing to march. 

Benjamin Merritt, Same. 

Hugh McCanu, Same. 

Alexander Langton, .... Same, — fifer. 

James Farnsworth, Family in distress. 

Niel McCann, One in his place. 

Robert Watson, Ready to march. 

James Wiley, Absent. 

Joriel Yanleuveneigh, .... Ready to march. 

William Owens, Sick. 

Christian Smith, Excused by colonel. 

Thomas Nodes, I'm damn'd if I march. 

Thomas Miller, Ready to march. 

Samuel Fisher, Will not march. 

Daniel Deveney, Absent. 

Hugh Martin, Ready to march. 

Insloe Anderson, Will not march. 

Philip Belveale, Son in his place. 

"To Samuel Patterson, Colonel, D. B. M. 
" I do hereby certify that the above list of ' Associators ' is as they 
stand enrolled ; that, on the refusal of so many of the first quota, I 
caused the whole company to be summoned, and those [whose] answers 



OF GEORGE READ. 3I9 

[are] 'ready and willing to march,' are now at head-quarters, Wilming- 
ton. " So answers 

" John Clark, Captain. 
"June 24th, 1777." 

From the original, in possession of Mr. Joseph Ilonry Rogers, which 
he found among the papers of his grandfather, Janies Booth, who 
brought it, with other papers belonging to the State of Delaware, from 
New York, where they had been carried by the British, who captured 
them soon after the battle of Brandywine. 

W. T. R. 



O. 

I FOUND among ray father's papers, No. 366, vol. iv. (Friday, July 
22d, 1825), of the American Watchman, a newspaper published in 
Wilmington, Delaware, which contains the following account of occur- 
rences in that town immediately after the battle of Brandywine: 

" We were frequently alarmed in the borough with reports that the 
British were coming in to take us, and one night, in particular, the 
alarm was so great that my neighbors bundled up such articles of 
clothing and household linen as they coi#d carry on their backs or 
arms. Two young females were asked where they were going at that 
time of night: they answered they did not know where ; but the morn- 
ing, as I was told at the time, found some of the inhabitants in the 
marsh about the Swedes' Church. 

"When they [the British] actually came into the borough, on 7th 
day (Saturday) morning, after the battle of the 11th of the 9th month 
(September, 1777), they caught us napping, for I did not get up that 
morning until after the sun was up ; and looking out of the window, 
saw three red-coats, and supposed them prisoners, but I soon found the 
scene was the reverse, and greatly alarmed were we all ; and I with 
difficulty ventured to my father's, for I and my brother had lodged that 
night at Dr. Way's as company for his mother, he having gone, the day 
after the battle, to assist in dressing the wounded, and Ithink he did 
not return while the British were with us, which was about six weeks, 
or until the last of the 10th month, October. After I got home, I found 
Joseph Summerl in my bed, much alarmed, and did not know what to 
do. I told him to \)\xi a good face on it, — there was an old coat of 
mine and to put it on, which he did, and passed safely to his father's in 
the Jerseys, though he had been with his company at the action. 
Others of his companions were not as fortunate, for some unkind per- 
sons had directed a party or parties of the British to their residences, 
and they were prisoners before daylight; among them I recollect Caleb 
Way, a lieutenant of one of the companies, John Thelwell, James Brob- 
son, and many others who I do not recollect at this distance of time. 
They were all placed under the horse-shed at Lawson's tavern, now 
belonging to James Canby, where they remained about sixty hours, and 
then were removed across the street to the Tresbyteriau meeting-house. 



320 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 

John Ferris proposed to two others to go up and see our townmen and 
furnish them with some eatables, or inquire of them [of their condition], 
for it was said they had been hardly dealt with. As we approached 
the town, we saw them marched across the street and through the 
northwest gate, and they placed themselves on the southeast side of 
the interior, which prevented our speaking to any of them. The officer 
in command, on the street side of the board fence, was on the left of 
the gate, and we three were on the other side of the gate, on the street 
side also, the open gate between us, which was soon shut. The senti- 
nel had rested his gun, with fixed bayonet, against the wall of the 
house ; the officer imperiously directed him to take his gun and walk 
clear of the wall and fence, so as to use it freely, 'for these,' said he, 

using harsh language, 'might attempt to escape.' J. F observed 

they were all respectable persons and would not attempt it. This irri- 
tated the officer, and he then turned his harsh language on us, and con- 
cluded in saying ' they had no friends in the country but the Quakers' 
(in which idea he was far wrong), ' and he doubted not but we deserved 
to be there imprisoned as those.' The word ' Quaker' I took up, and 
observed to him, mildly, 'that we were Quakers.' He excused himself, 
and invited us to his room in the tavern to take a glass of wine, which 
we did, and saved ourselves from further insult. On the afternoon of 
the day of the action I was permitted to go as near Chad's Ford as 
possible, for the purpose of obtaining information, for we were all 
anxious to know how our army was getting on. Well knowing the 
ground leading to the ford* I left the Concord road, at Smith's cross- 
roads, to the left, and was making my way on a by-road to the scene 
of action, and had nearly gained the eastern ridge of the valley or 
bottom, as it is called, where I could see the operations, but was inter- 
rupted by one of our light-horsemen, who said he was stationed there 
to prevent peoi>le from going farther. A heavy piece of woodland pre- 
vented us from seeing anything in the direction of the contending 
armies. Here I was obliged to remain without seeing anything; but 
all the hills in view were covered with inhabitants who were as anxious 
as myself to know how the thing would terminate, for the musketry- 
firing was tremendous, and our army retreating from Birmingham 
Meeting-house through Dilworth Town. They were approaching us, 
and of course the report of the discharges became more distinct. Here 
I remained till the sun was setting, and then regained the Concord road 
at where I had diverged from it, and found it literally full of people, 
flying before the contending armies, on foot, on horseback, and in carts. 
Among the crowd I found a family of particular acquaintances, — George 
Evans, one of our commissaries, his wife, eldest son (Peter), and 
several younger children; the youngest I took up before me and 
brought 'to my father, and the rest of the family followed, except 
George, who the British wanted to make a prisoner of, being an active 
revolutionist. This family were with us when the British took posses- 
sion of the borough, and gave us much anxiety for fear they would be 
discovered and made hostages of, with a view to get hold of the com- 
missary ; but my father got them all out of the way by sending them 
into the country by different outlets [and at different] times. 

" Attached to this part of the British army was an old acquaintance 
of my father, — a Scotchman, formerly a merchant of Philadelphia, — who 



OF GEORGE READ. 321 

had joined that side of the question, and was a commissary of prisoners. 
Ho marked our house for his (|uartors, hut occupied the next door until 
the fleet came uj), when there would he many gentlemen that would 
Mant quarters, and he would introduce such as would give us no 
trouhle; and we had two or three, one of them unmilitary, who came 
to possess himself of some of the confiscated farms when the rehels 
[should he] suhjocted to royal authority, which soon [lie said] would 
be the case, and he used to tell my mother, in my presence, which 
of the farms he would have. His name was Humphries ; he was very 
timid and feared the rebels much ; he landed from on shipboard al)i)ut 
Grubb's Landing, and on his way to the borough met a man near Tus- 
sey's or Siielpot Ilill, and incpiired his name. The man replied, ' Israel 
Israel.' From the name, numphries was sure he was a rebel, l)ut [he] 
did not disturb him, and [be] came safe to town. I discovered much 
meanness with some of the British officers of rank, among them a Major 
Molliston. My father had a new, light one-horse cart to convey things 
to and from a piece of ground outside of the borough ; this major 
stopped me one day as I passed his quarters, the house now occupied 
by O. Horsey, Esquire, and inquired whose that cart was. I told him ; 
no more passed. I told my father what had occurred ; he told me to go 
to the major and say he should have it for such a sum, in gold, — al)Out 
half its value, — 'for,' he said, 'they will take it when they go away, 
without pay.' T did so, and he agreed to give me so much gold. Tlie 
cart was sent to him, and I went for payment, but instead of gold, he 
paid me in loan-office paper money of this State, that they had obtained 
by surprise at New Casile or Wilmington. 

" I was very intimate with this commissary of prisoners, and used to 
be often with him when he was writing. One afternoon three officers 
of the line came to see him, and were conversing freely on different 
subjects, — one was General Washington. Two of them, in particular, 
were commending Washington much ; the other, who had said little on 
the subject, closed by saying, ' I like my George the best,' meaning 
George III., his king. I loved Washington, and I thought he ought to 
love him also, as his companion had spoken so freely in his favor. 

" An account of the number of British troops that occupied the town 
was sent by an inhabitant to General Washington, and he had planned 
an attack on the British, but they evacuated the place sooner than he 
expected, as I was since informed ; and I understood Captain (now 
Major) C. P. Bennett was to have been onQ of the officers in that e.vpe- 
dition, as Wilmington was his birthplace, and he knew every avenue 
leading into the l)orough. Their fate was reserved for their attack ou 
our fort at Red Bank, on the Jersey shore, where they were severely 
beaten, and Count de Nap [Donop], one of the Hessian commanders, 
fell. The 71st Regiment of Highlanders was one morning drawn up in 
open line, facing the southeast, in Pasture Street, on the northwest 
.side of the rope-walk, and extended from Kennet road toward the fur- 
nace. As a person pa.ssed them in front, and he turned u|) the Kennet 
road, and but a few paces distant, he heard a considerable clatter he 
did not understand, turned his head to see what was doing, and was 
much surjjrised to see all the rails of the fence, that had been in perfect 
order a few .seconds before, formed and forming conical tents for the.se 
soldiers ; it was the most rapid and instantaneous destruction of a fence 



322 LIFE AND COBRESPONDENGE 

ever seen before. The blowing up of the Augusta 64, that was en- 
gaged in the reduction of Mud Fort, was felt distinctly in the borough ; 
the reports of the cannon were heard when the Avind was favorable, but 
on that day the wind was very strong from the northwest, and nothing 
was heard till the afternoon (I think). While I was sitting in Dr. Way's 
parlor, with himself and some other person, we were surprised to hear 
the bottles and other glassware in his shop rattling together. We could 
not tell the cause until information came of the event and of the time 
that it took place, and we were satisfied it was the concussion of that 
blow-up that shook the doctor's glass furniture of his medical shop, as 
such places were then styled, but since we have grown more refined we 
call them offices of such-and-such doctors. 

"I shall close this paper by noting some of the changes that have 
taken place with our agricultural neighbors up the Brandywine, fifteen 
or twenty miles, since the year 1765. At that time, and for many years 
after, the country was supplied with spring and fall goods by attend- 
ing fairs, held at this period in all the towns and villages ; these 
fairs were well attended by both sexes, old and young, some to buy and 
others for fun and frolic. My youthful disposition led rae more to 
observe the dress and behavior of the young men and women than to par- 
take of their amusements. The young men, if the day was fine, came 
to the fair by hundreds (with a fine, buxom lassie alongside) in their 
shirt-sleeves, nicely plaited and cramped as high as the elbows, above 
which it was tied with a string of different colored tape or ribbon, called 
sleeve-strings. Their coats were tied behind the saddle ; they had thin- 
soled shoes for dancing ; they wore two pair of stockings, the inner 
pair generally white, the outer pair generally blue yarn, the top rolled 
neatly below the breeches knee-band, so as to show the inner white, and 
guard it from the dirt from the horses' feet, — for boots were not known. 
I never recollect seeing a solitary pair of boots worn, and I have seen 
some thousands of young men going to, at, and coming from these fairs, 
in six or seven years. I have sat in the same place for the last few 
years, and observed the same class of persons pass me ; now boots are 
generally worn, and umbrellas carried by persons on horseback. At that 
day a man, booted, on horseback, with an umbrella over him, would 
have produced more curiosity and conversation on his pride and folly 
than a small army would at this time. When we visited our then 
wealthy relatives and farmers in the country, they gave us of their best 
according to the season. Then the fare was mush and milk, apple 
and peach pie and milk, cheese-curds and new milk, sometimes cream, 
with home-made wine and sugar (which is a delicacy even now), bread 
and cheese and custards, — no tea or coffee did I see. I have visited 
some of the same tables a few years past, where I found tea, coffee or 
chocolate, with preserves of many kinds ; the dinner-table groaning 
under its weight of ham, poultry, beef, mutton, etc., with a second 
course consisting of puddings, pies, tarts, custards, etc.; milk, and other ^ 
dishes of old times, being now too vulgar, except particularly inquired 
after. * ' Seventy-Six. " 



OF GEORGE BEAD. 323 



5D- 

The following copy is taken from the original letter of a British spy, 
in possession of Mr. Joseph Henry Kogers, who found it among the 
papers of his grandfather, James Booth, by whom it was brouglit from 
New York, witli papers belonging to the State of Delaware, captured 
by the British and carried there, after President McKinley was made 
prisoner, in HYT. On the original letter is written " J"'ound among my 
papers brought from New York, — supposed to be written by John 
Malcolm." 

" Sir, — Morton, at the Ferry, was yesterday with the rebel chiefs, 
viz.: Patterson, Bryan, Grantham. Bedford, I hear, is at Philadelphia. 
There are under these, John Clark, late sheriCF, William Clark, his sub- 
sheriff, a Mr. Booth, a Philip January. I apprehend that the chiefs stay 
at nights either at Grantham's or Captain Porter's, a small distance 
below New Castle. Morton, when he returned last night, reported 
that Major Bryan had sworn, in his hearing, that he would burn the 
town of New Castle and all the danmed Tories in it. I know of no per- 
son to be trusted so fit for a guide as old Joseph, and I have persuaded 
him to act as such. There is a certain ^Yilliam Haslett, near to Dr. 
Finney's house, in New Castle, who promised me to point out some 
inveterate rebels if an officer would call at his house ; he is afraid to 
api)ear, as they have threatened him. At Newport is the habitation 
and the effects of one of McKinley's privy council, a vile rebel, well 
known by the name George Latimer, — his father a Judge of Common 
Pleas. 

" Saturday morning." 



TiiE hatred of the ultra Whigs in Delaware, during the Revolutionary 
war, for the Tories, and the violent and occasionally cruel manifesta- 
tions of it, are strikingly displayed by the " History of Cheny Clow," 
which I have abridged from the "Delaware Register,"* vol. i. pp. 
220-226. 

In a letter of 5th May, n70,f Mr. Read mentions Clow as foreman 
of a grand jury iu Sussex Countv, and calls him the " Wilkes of Sus- 
sex." He was a leader of the Tories in Kent and Sussex, and especially 

* A magazine published in Dover, Delaware, in 1838 and 1839, by William 
HuflSnfjton, Esquire, to preserve facts relating to the early hi.-^tory of Delaware, 
advance agriculture, and ditfusc information and amusement by articles i>n va- 
rious subjects. It expired, on the completion i)f its second volume, for want of 
sufficient patronage. It i.s desirable that there should be always such a reposi- 
tory, and persons enough alive to the duty of arresting facts, historically valuable, 
passing to oblivion, to avail themselves of this means for their preservation. 

■}■ Life of George Bead, chap. i. 



324 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 

the object of the hatred of the Whigs. He was accused of treason in 
1782, and a warrant directed to John Clayton, Sheriff of Kent County, 
issued for his arrest. Clow resided in the forest, about twelve miles 
from Dover ; Clayton, with a strong posse, well armed, proceeded to 
his house, the door of which he found closed and secured. The war- 
rant was read, and Clow summoned to surrender, and he replied by 
firing several times upon the posse, but without effect; the fire was re- 
turned, and the door assailed with axes and the butts of muskets. 
During the fight a man of the posse, named Moore, was shot through 
the bod}^ and died at once, and another Avounded by a ball which, strik- 
ing the brass plate on his bayonet-belt, glanced to his neck, slightly 
injuring him. The door was at last forced open, and the sheriff with 
his party, thrusting aside or clambering over a barricade of furniture 
and other materials, seized Clow. They were astonished to find none 
within the house but Clow and his wife, who, it was believed, had been 
moulding bullets, as there was lead melting over a fire in the house, 
and from the steady and quick fire maintained upon their assailants, it 
was concluded that she loaded muskets while her husband discharged 
them, till bullets failed ; she was wounded severely in the breast, but 
made no complaint. Clow requested leave to dress, which being 
granted, he arrayed himself in the full uniform of a British captain. 
He was then put on a horse, and the sheriff and his party set out for 
Dover with their prisoner. On the way to Dover a new peril threat- 
ened the unfortunate Clow, in the shape of a militia troop of horse, 
headed by their captain, who demanded his surrender to them that 
they might hang him on the next tree. The sheriff and his party, un- 
intimidated by threats of violence, greatly to their honor, asserted the 
supremac}^ of the civil authority over militar}^ power, and succeeded in 
conducting Clow uninjured to the prison in Dover. On the lOth day 
of December, 1782, at a Court of Oyer and Terminer called for his trial, 
consisting of Judges Killen and Finney, an indictment for high treason 
was found against him, upon which he was tried, and to which he 
pleaded not guilty, exhibiting his commission as captain in the British 
army, and claiming to be entitled to be treated as a prisoner of war. 
He was acquitted, but, as appears by the entry on the record of the 
court that tried him, immediately after that of his acquittal, he was 
ordered to enter into a recognizance in the sum of ten thousand pounds, 
with two sureties, in the sum of five thousand pounds each, for his good 
behavior till the end of the war with Great Britain, pay the cost 
of his trial for treason, and be committed till this judgment should be 
complied with. Being poor, as were his friends, and they but few, 
compliance was impossible, and the judgment Avas, in effect, a sentence 
to imprisonment for an indefinite time. The implacable enemies of this 
unhappy man soon charged him with the mui'der of Moore. He was 
indicted, and at a Court of Oyer and Terminer, held by Judges Killen 
and John Jones, Gunning Bedford, Attorney-General, prosecuting, con- 
victed of the murder of Moore, on an indictment found 5th May, 1783 : 
he was sentenced to be hanged by the neck till dead. The justice of 
the verdict in this case may well be questioned. Sheriff Clayton testi- 
fied that he believed Moore was shot, not from Clow's house, but by 
one of his posse who was firing in the rear of it ; his reason was, that 
the hole in Moore's back (the bullet having passed through his body) 



OF GEORGE READ. 325 

was small and smootii, wliilo that in front was much larger, ragged, and 
torn, so that the l)all niyst have entered his back, and could not have 
been fired from the house, his face iiaving been towards it when lie fell. 
The slieritl's evidence was corroborated by such of his ])arty as were 
examined. The only testimony of any weight against Clow was that of 
John Bullen, — that in jail he said to him, " If I killed Moore, it was by 
accident." Clow defended himsidf, urging it was not proved he killed 
Moore, and even if he did, the killing was accidental and without mal- 
ice, anil even if designed could not be murder, as he was a British 
officer, rightfully defending himself from capture by the citizens or 
soldiers of a hostile people. A troop of horse was paraded in front of 
the court-house during Clow's trials, it was, at the time, believed to 
intimidate the jury, wliile the people without clamored for his convic- 
tion ; therefore, confidence in this verdict, as unbiased, is reasonably 
shaken, if not destroyed. The governor of Delaware was very much 
disjiosed to pardon Clow, for it has been stated he did not believe him 
guilty; he therefore respited him from time to time, but was too much 
influenced by the popular cry for his blood to do more. In honorable 
contrast to the course of the governor was that of Sheriff Clayton, who, 
being apprehensive that the infuriated people would attempt to take 
Clow forcibly from the prison and hang him, slept for many months in 
his apartment, armed, to prevent his abduction. A few persons peti- 
tioned for his pardon, but, as has seldom happened, petitions were signed 
by many for his execution. The Whigs had suffered much from the 
protraction of the war, which they, with reason, attributed to the Tories, 
by whom their property had been plundered, and their nearest and 
dearest relations and friends murdered or made prisoners; hence the fe- 
rocity with which they pursued this hapless prisoner. Clow, in hourh^ 
fear of death at the hands of an infuriated mob, could endure no longer 
his dreadful state of suspense, and therefore petitioned the governor to 
at once either pardon him or issue the warrant for his execution. Un- 
happily for the memory of this chief magistrate, the pleadings of mercy 
were silenced by the popular clamor for the blood of Clow, and he signed 
his death-warrant. Clow heard it read with calmness, and from that 
time uttered no com])laints or reproaches ; he walked to the gallows 
singing, with unfaltering voice, a hymn he had committed to memory 
while imprisoned. His wife, who so heroically aided in defending his 
house, never forsook him, — her efforts for his pardon were unceasing till 
his execution, and she continued in Dover till he was cut down, when 
she received his body and departed with it to consign it to the grave, 
but where was never known. The patriotic Caesar Kodney, on the day 
of Clow's execution, publicly wished he were governor only that he 
might pardon him. The revulsion of public feeling was immediate; 
even while around the gallows of their victim, the conviction of Clow's 
innocence forced itself upon those who had been foremost in clamoring 
for his death. The house, the scene of his brave defence, was never 
afterward occupied, and has (lisai»peared. In Kent County, in Little 
Creek Hundred, in a dense and dark forest, far from the al)odes of men, 
there is still shown a heap of toys, all that remains of Cheney Clow's 
fort, where, with his Tory bauds, he defied the AVhigs. This execution 
of Clow was a foul and cruel murder. \ 



326 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 

YISIT TO VALLEY FORGE. 

About sixteen miles up the Schuylkill from Philadelphia, a small 
stream leaves the rich and beautiful valley and winds its way through 
a deep ravine, between two mountains, and empties its clear water into 
the river. The mountains are filled with iron ore ; and as the stream 
afforded water-power, the old inhabitants of the colony erected at its 
mouth a mill and forge, and around them a few houses : and the place 
was known as the "Valley Forge." 

It Avas after the disastrous result of the battles of Brandywine and 
Germantovvn, in which the Americans lost two thousand soldiers, whom, 
in their already reduced state, they could so poorly spare, that Washing- 
ton was forced to give up Philadelphia to the enemy, lead his drooping 
and discouraged army to this secluded spot, which the sufferings of that 
little band, while it lay and shivered there during the memorable winter 
of '77, has made immortal. 

We approached the old encampment by a road leading down a 
narrow defile which forms the bed of the stream, and ascended to the 
summit, where the array lay, by a rugged pathway, which is still to be 
traced among the rocks ; and were shown by our guide, as we passed, 
the different spots where the cannon had been planted to guard the 
entrance. When we reached the summit, we found it partially cov- 
ered with trees and underwood: yet eighty years had not been able to 
destroy the efforts that feeble band had put forth for self-protection. 
There was still to be seen a ditch and embankment, which at present is 
about three feet high, extending more than two miles around the top 
of the mountain. 

At the more open and unprotected points are still to be seen five dif- 
ferent forts of different forms, more or less perfect. They were probably 
built principally of logs, but they have long since decayed, and their 
forms at present are to be traced only by piles of dirt, which had been 
thrown up to strengthen them. The most perfect one at present is still 
about ten feet high, and probably one hundred feet square, with a 
dividing ridge running diagonally from one corner to the other, forming 
two apartments of equal size, with but one narrow entrance. It all 
remains quite perfect, and the walls or banks are covered with trees. 
The tents of the soldiers were made of poles, which seem to have been 
twelve or fifteen feet long, built in the form of a pen, with dirt thrown up 
on the outside to keep out the storm. Their remains are still to be seen 
situated in little groups here and there over the inclosure. While down 
near the old Forge, Ave were shown an old stone house, about twenty 
by thirty feet, which served as head-quarters, in which Washington 
lived, surrounded by his staff, during the Avinter. 

We entered the venerable building Avith feelings of the deepest emo- 
tion, and examined the room Avhich served the illustrious chief as bed- 
chamber and audience-chamber. It is very plain, and the furniture 
much as he had left it. A small rough box, in a deep window-sill, Avas 



OF OEORGE READ. 327 

pointed out as having contained his papers and writing materials. The 
house is occupied by a family who take pleasure ia showing to visitors 
the different items of interest. The old cedar-shingled roof, which pro- 
tected the " Fatlier of our Country" eighty years ago, had still shel- 
tered the old head-quarters until a year or two ago, when it was re- 
moved, and its i)lace occupied In' tin. 

The graves of the soldiers are still to be seen in distinct clusters over 
the ground, but are most numerous in the northwest division, where 
the regiments from the South were quartered, death having rioted most 
fearfully among them, they being less able to endure the severities of a 
Northern winter. 

It was during their encampment here that the tracks of the soldiers 
could be traced by their blood, as they gathered wood to warm their 
miserable huts. And it is here that Washington is said to have shed 
tears like a father while beholding their sufferings, when they gathered 
around him and pleaded for bread and clothing, and he had not the 
means to furnish them. Yet, although everything seemed so discourag- 
ing, it was near here that the " Friend" ■\Ycnt home surprised, exclaim- 
ing, "The Americans will conquer yet! the Americans will conquer 
yet ! for I heard a whisper in the woods, and I looked and saw their 
chief upon his knees, and he was asking God to help them." 

It may be great to lead a powerful army on to victory, but surely it 
was greater to preserve the shattered remnants of a discouraged band 
together, when the enemy were trampling over them, when their Con- 
gress could do nothing for them, when starving families at home were 
weeping for their return, and when there seemed no prospect before 
them but miserable defeat. 

Xumerous graves have recently been opened, and the bodies of many 
of the officers have been removed by their friends to other burying- 
grounds in their native States ; but the poor and obscure soldiers, who 
still remain, have monuments more beautiful than art can form erected 
over them, for nature has planted hundreds of cedars as a silent tribute 
to their memory, which have been watered by the pure and generous 
tears of night, and they are now forming living wreaths of evergreen 
above their graves. — Ohio State Journal. 



328 LIFE AND CORBESPONDENGE 



Or 
COLONEL HASLET. 

John Haslet was born in Ireland. He was educated for the minis- 
try of the Dissenters, and preached, but subsequently studied medicine 
with much success, and practised it in Kent County, Delaware, for many 
years, with profit and reputation; and was frequently elected to the 
General Assembly of this State, for his able and faithful services there 
deserving and receiving the applause of his fellow-citizens. — Delaware 
Gazette, No. 216, August 8th, 1789. 

He was a man of generous and ardent feelings — tall and athletic. A 
leading Whig, he was appointed colonel of the justly celebrated Dela- 
Avare regiment. He took an active part in raising it, and when assem- 
bled on the day appointed for its march, eight hundred strong, was ad- 
dressed by him with stirring eloquence. Though imperfectly clothed, 
armed, and provisioned, these gallant men, with loud cheers, commenced 
their march from their homes, which, save a handful, they were to see 
nevermore. He was regarded as the father of his regiment, which he 
commanded till his glorious death, and led in the battles of White 
Plains, Trenton, and Princeton, where, in a gallant charge against the 
British, he fell by a wound in his head from a rifle-bullet, about sun- 
rise, January 3d, 1777. 

The State of Delaware has not been insensible to the services and 
merits of Colonel Haslet. In 1783 the Legislature of Delaware caused 
a marble slab to be placed over his grave, in the burying-ground of the 
First Presbyterian Church, in Philadelphia, where his remains were 
deposited, in 1777, and where they reposed undisturbed until 1841, when 
this grave-yard was sold and its tenants removed. The Legislature of 
Delaware appointed a committee, 22d February, 1841, to superintend 
the removal of Colonel Haslet's body to a vault, to be built by the com- 
mittee, in the cemetery of the Presbyterian Church, Dover, Delaware, 
and authorized them to have a suitable monument, with appropriate 
inscriptions and devices, prepared and placed over this, it may be ex- 
pected, his final resting-place. On the 1st of July, 1841, this committee* 
placed the disinterred remains of Colonel Haslet in the First Presby- 
terian Church, on Washington Square, Philadelphia. On the next day, 
at an early hour, the remains were conveyed to the steamer Kent, in 
charge of the committee, escorted by volunteer companies of the city of 
Philadelphia and the Hibernia Society, with a great body of citizens, 
several judges and other civil functionaries, and officers of the United 
States army and nav}^ There was solemn music, tolling of bells, firing 
of guns, and addresses from the president of the Hibernia Society and 
the chairman of the committee. The remains (the skeleton entire, or 
almost so)f arrived in Dover, Saturday night, July 2d, escorted by a 

*One of this committee said to me, "When we arrived at Colonel Haslet's 
grave we found his remains disinterred, and with them bones from an adjoining 
grave or graves, — and we took all." 

f So says a friend, who saw it. 



OF GEORGE READ. 329 

great cavalcade of citizens of Delaware, Pennsylvania, and Maryland, 
and were deposited, under a guard of honor, in the State-House. On 
tlie succeeding morning of July 3d, after impressive religious services 
and an eloquent address from John M. Clayton, followed by a great 
assemblage of citizens, they were conveyed to the vault prei)ared for 
them. The monument over this vault is of marble, seven feet high, and 
its base of Brandywine granite. Tlie slab placed over Haslet's grave 
in Philadelphia, in 1783, is preserved by having been made one of the 
sides of this tomb, and bears this inscription: 

In Memory 

of 

JOHN HASLET, Esquire, 

Colonel of the Delaware Regiment, 

Who fell gloriously at the battle of Princeton, 

In the cause of American Independence, 

January 3d, 1111. 

The General Assembly of the State of Delaware, 

Remembering 

His virtues as a man, 

His merits as a citizen, 

and 

His services as a soldier. 

Have caused this monumental stone. 

In testimony of their respect. 

To be placed over his grave. 

MDCCLXXXIII. * 

His son, distinguished as no other citizen of Delaware has ever been, 
by his election twice to the office of her governor, owed this honor 
mainly, I believe, to the public gratitude for Colonel Haslet's services, 
invested with lustre, which lapse of time has not dimmed, and with 
mournful interest by his death on the battle-field of Princeton, as victory 
was about to perch upon our banner. 

A friend (who does not permit me to mention his name) informs me 
(August 26th, 1858) "that he had often seen the Bible (quarto) from 
which Colonel Haslet, according to tradition in his family, preached, at 
the house of his son Governor Haslet ;" and about twenty-one years ago, 
travelling in a stage from Milford to New Castle, he met a gentleman 
whose name he could not recall, resident in Illinois, and husband of 
Jemima, a daughter of Colonel Haslet, who had in his hands Governor 
Haslet's certificate of membership of the Society of the Cincinnati, 
which my informant, having often seen before, recognized, and on his 
lap the Bible above mentioned, with a bundle, he said, of Colonel 
Haslet's sermons. He was returning from "Cedar Creek," Sussex 
County, Delaware, where Governor Haslet resided, having gone there 
to collect relics of Colonel Haslet. These relics had been bought by a 
man named Shockley, a friend and neighbor of Governor Haslet, at the 

* Journal of the Senate of Delaware, a.d. 1843, pp. 153-lGO ; Delawiirc Journal, 
July Gth and 9tli, a.d. 1841. 

22 



330 



LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 



sale of his effects, to preserve them for his family, none of whom were 
present at it. 

There was during the American Revolution a classical school, kept by 
the Reverend Mr. or Dr. Huston, in Kent or Sussex County, Delaware. 
The boys of this seminary were one day engaged in their plays on the 
lawn in front of his house, when a man hastily rode up and announced 
"that the British had been defeated at Trenton and Princeton," and 
added that General Mercer and Colonel Haslet were killed. One of 
these boys was Governor Haslet ! He was stunned by this intelligence ; 
his companions cheered. 

Colonel Haslet at the time of his death bad in his pocket an order to 
return to Delaware, to recruit for his regiment. When he received it, 
expecting that a battle was nigh, he asked and obtained leave to defer 
his departure from the army. 

The half-sister of my informant was the wife of Governor Haslet, 
with whom and his family be enjoyed intimate, affectionate, and long 
intercourse. "The Governor," he said, "was a well-looking man, of 
pleasing manners, generous, hospitable, and popular. His abilities 
were good, his education classical, and his occupation that of miller and 
farmer." 

OFFICERS OF THE DELAWARE REGIMENT. 



GRADE. 

Anderson, Thomas Lieutenant. 

Bennett, Caleb P do. 

Cox, Daniel Powell Captain. 

Campbell, James Lieutenant. 

Cutting, John B Apothecar}-. 

Driskell , Joseph Lieutenant. 

Gilder, Eeuben Surgeon. 

Hall, David Colonel. 

Hosman, Joseph Lieutenant. 

Hyatt, John Yance do. 

Jacquott, Peter Captain. 

Kirkwood, llobert do. 

Kidd, Charles Lieutenant. 

Learmouth, John Captain. 

Latimer, Henry Surgeon. 



GRADE. 

Mitchell, Nathaniel Major. 

McLane, Allen Captain. 

McKennan, William do. 

Moore, James do. 

Mc William , Stephen Lieutenant. 

Patten, John Major. 

Purvis, George Captain. 

Popham, William do. 

Piatt, John Lieutenant. 

Eoche, Edward do. 

Skillington, Elijah do. 

Tilton, James Hos. Surg'n. 

Vaughn, Joseph Lieutenant. 

Wilson, John Captain. 

Vaughn, Joseph Lieut.-Ool. 



(3-2. 

EXTRACT FROM THE LAST WILL AND TESTAMENT OF 
CJESAR RODNEY. 



The last will of Ciesar Rodney is in the office of the Register of Wills, 
Kent County, Delaware. It commences thus: 

"Cajsar Rodney, of the County of Kent, in the Delaware State, 
Esquire, Delegate in the Congress held in New York to solicit the re- 
peal of the memorable Stamp-Act ; Last Speaker of the General As- 
sembly held under the old Government ; Delegate in the Revolutionary 



OF GEORGE READ. 33;^ 

Congress held at Philadelphia; Signer of the Declaration of In.lenend- 
encc; late 1 reaident and Governor of the Delaware State aforesaid 
and eldest son of Caesar Rodney, deceased, who was you..i,a"St son of 
William Rodney, deceased, who came from the Citv of Bristol in Great 
Britain, and was first of our name in these parts \ ami Speaker of the 
first General Assembly of Delaware, held under the old Government 
after its separation from Pennsylvania, do make this, my Last Will and 
Testament or the disposal of all my real and personal estate in manner 
and form following, that is to say." "'Hiiuti 

Among other bequests are the"^ following: 
.f p/' •^'! ^f •■'^^-^"^'^•"^tiis R«^^ney, his goTd watch ; 2d, to the Wardens 

« h?itr uT\' ^""''' ^^^^^^^••^'' «"^' 1^""*^>-<^^^1 pounds to inclose wi?h 
a buck wall the bui-ying-ground of Christ Church therein ; 3d, of a tract 
of and in Jones's Neck, Kent County, Delaware, commonlv called "By- 
field, o his nephew, Caesar Augustus Rodney, for his" natural life 
without impeachment of waste, and after his death to his first son and 
the heirs male of the body of such son; and he failin- to the third 

He directs his brother Thomas "To have his son, C^sar A. Rodney 
brought up in the form of religion commonly called the Church of 
England and educated liberally in classical learning, Natural and Moral 
Philosophy and every other branch of literature thaf has a tendency 

IblyTr^i^eHcf. '"''"''"^' ^"' P^"^' ^'^^ •^^^"'^^-' - "->' -'-- 
Should Thomas die in the minority of Ciesar A. Rodnev, this direction 
IS to be performed by his brother, William Rodney, Lnd if e alsS 
should so die, the testator earnestly requests his i^spectab e fi-ieid i 
.^^jr^d,JNew Castle, to see that this part of hi will be iudl: \ 

He nominates Thomas Rodney his executor 

His will was executed 20th Januarv. 1784, in presence of Chirlp=; 
R.dgely William Wolleston, and Edward Tilghman 
March! l^sf"'""''^ "^^^ ^''^' °^ after-purchased land was executed 2tth 

Tufv'n'^'l^lT^-T^'''!-'^"'" P^:°'^'^ '^'^^''^ '^^^"^^« Collins, Esq., 3d 
July 1784, by virtue of a commission from Governor Yan Dvl e to him 
directed, to take proof of said will and codicil ; and they we c^ Ived 

ReilSroTwiirnr ?';'"''.' l ^rJ^^^"'-^' ^^^--- ridnev .'4 Ih' 
Keg.stei of Wdls and Judge of Probate in and for Kent County, Dela- 

"DovEU, July 4th, 1778. 

a<^ains?H,o'«;P^^'- ^'^^' *'°' ?^ *^' '°""'"^ ^«'' ^'^^ ^tate in the claim 
against the schooner ' Fortune,' says it will be absolutelv necessary 
vou should attend the Court of Admiraltv, in order to Ll^.^ vour 

i.sue. for that purpose. This being the case, I make no doubt vou 

Tbl ''T.:;\^''''1' ''''^'' ^'^^"-^'^ ^^^ '''' '"V '- ever so disagree" 
able. I am ex remely sorry to put you to this trouble, as I well know 

you are generally in a bad state of health; but as your not coinin- viU 

occasion a delay in the determination, to the great JLadvaiUage "f'those 



1 



332 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 

to whom the prize may be hereafter adjudged, I hope I shall stand ex- 
cused in earnestly requesting your attendance. 

" I am, sir, with my compliments to Mrs. Dagworthy, your most 
obedient, humble servant, 

" C^SAR Rodney. 

" General DAawoRTHy. 

"P.S. — I have inclosed you an evening paper in which is a letter 
from General Washington, giving an account of a general engagement.* 
You see we have gained the field ; I had it also by express. It seems 
we have killed and taken more than three hundred of the enemy; our 
loss is considerable. Besides this, the last accounts are about three 
thousand of the enemy have deserted." 

The foregoing letter was kindly communicated to the author by the 
Honorable George B. Rodney, who (July, 1859) copied it from the 
original in the possession of Mrs. Waples, a granddaughter of General 
Dagworthy, of Georgetown, Sussex County, Delaware. 

John Adams thus graphically describes the exterior of Caesar Rodney : 
" Ci3esar Rodney is the oddest-looking man in the world ; he is tall, 
thin, and slender as a reed, [and] pale; his face is not bigger than a 
large apple, yet there is sense, and fire, spirit, wit, and humor in his 
countenance. He made himself very merry with Ruggles and his pre- 
tended timidities and scruples at the [Stamp-]act Congress. "f 



NOTICE OF THOMAS McKEAN. 

The parents of this eminent statesman and jurist, William McKean 
and Letitia Finney, were Irish, and resided in Chester County, Penn- 
sylvania, where he was born March 19th, 1734. He was educated by 
Dr. Allison, as were other of his distinguished contemporaries. After 
he had been competently instructed in the Latin and Greek languages, 
practical mathematics, moral philosophy, logic and rhetoric, he studied 
law with his kinsman, David Finney, at New Castle, Delaware, and 
learned its practice and theory together by his employment as clerk to 
the Prothonotary of the Court of Common Pleas, having his office there. 
At the end of two years after his removal to New Castle, the diligence, 
ability, and probit}^ he displayed were rewarded by his appointment to 
be deputy-prothonotary and register for the probate of wills. During 
the period of two years he held these offices, as his principal dwelt in 
Sussex County, nearly one hundred miles from New Castle, he executed 
them, — a youth not aged twenty years. Before he was of age he was 
admitted to all the courts of the three lower counties on Delaware, and 
his practice in a few months was considerable. In 1756 he was ad- 

* Battle of Monmouth, June 28th, 1778. 

f Writings of John Adams (Diary), vol. ii. p. 360. 



OF GEORGE READ. 333 

mitted to practice in Chester County and Philadelphia, and in 1757 in tlio 
Supremo Court of Pennsylvania. If his rapid advance in professional 
knowledge and practice awakened envy in unworthy contemporaries, it 
stimulated his ardor and his diligence. Appointed in 1758 clerk to the 
House of Assembly of Pennsylvania, he was re-elected till he declined this 
office. In 1702, in conjunction with Coesar Rodney, by legislative appoint- 
ment, he revised and printed the laws enacted during the next preceding 
ten years, in a luanner satisfactory to the public ;* and in this 3'ear made 
his debut in political life, having been elected a member of the Assem- 
bly of Delaware for New Castle County.f The parties of this period 
were called the Court and Country, and their names show their charac- 
ters. He belonged to the Country party, and was soon one of its lead- 
ers, lie was appointed a trustee of the Loan Office for New Castle 
County, — in 17G4 for four years, and again in 1768 and 1772. In 1765 
he entered on the wider field on which he was to play so prominent a 
part, l)cing elected one of the delegates from the "three lower counties 
on Delaware" to the Stamp-act Congress. He took a leading part in 
the memorable proceedings of that illustrious body, having been one of 
the committees appointed to examine and revise its minutes for publica- 
tion, and to prepare an "Address" to the House of Commons of Eng- 
land. Besides a declaration of rights and grievances and address to the 
king, the Stamp-act Congress prepared petitions to both houses of Parlia- 
ment, but several of its timid members, among them its president, re- 
fused to sign them. With these recusants McKean expostulated with 
his characteristic ability and warmth, but in vain One of them, Robert 
Ogden, of New Jersey, was burnt in effigy, w^hile McKean and his col- 
league, Csesar Rodney, were thanked for their faithful and able discharge 
of their duties by the Assembly of Delaware, upon reporting the pro- 
ceedings of the Stamp-act Congress to that body. He was appointed in 
1765 sole notary-public for New Castle County, and a justice of the 
peace and clerk of the Court of Common Pleas and Quarter Sessions 
and Orphans' Court. He concurred with his brethren of those courts 
in the order to their officers to use in their proceedings iinstamjjed paper, 
being the first of the courts in the colonies to do so. He was licensed 
to practice, in 1766, in all the New Jersey courts. In 1769 he was 
appointed to procure in New York copies of all papers concerning real 
property in Delaware, and these copies were declared of authority equal 
to their originals. In 1771 he was appointed Collector of New Castle 
and Speaker of the House of Representatives.! 

The stamp-act was repealed, l)ut the right at the same time asserted 
that Parliament could in all cases pass laws binding the colonies. It 
was soon followed by the act imposing duties upon tea, paper, glass, 
etc. ; and the evident intent to test the right thus claimed to tax the 
colonists without their consent arrayed them in opposition to this tyran- 
nous attempt. Mr. ^McKean was chosen a member of the Congress 
which met at Philadelphia, September 5th, 1774, having taken a decided 
and active part in the measures preliminary to the election of that body. 



* Biography of the Signers of the Declaration of Independence, vol. iv. pp. 1-3. 
f "And re-elected for seventeen years, till he declined serving longer." — Biog- 
raphy, vol. iv. p. 3. 

X Biography of the Signers of the Declaration of Independence, vol. iv. pp. 3-10. 



334 LIFE AND COBRESPONDENGE 

As was true of no other who belonged to the Continental Congress, he 
was a member of that august assembly, without intermission, until the 
preliminary tieaty was signed acknowledging the independence of the 
United States. He removed to Philadelphia in 1174, and resided there 
till his death. Versed not only in the theory of politics, but in the de- 
tails of public business, his services in Congress were most valuable, 
for he was ready and able in debate, and diligent in the business of 
committees, on many of the most important of which he served, par- 
ticularly that committee appointed to report articles of confederation 
between the colonies, which he ratified on behalf of the State of Dela- 
ware, February 22d, 1179. When the vote of Congress in committee 
of the whole was taken on the Declaration of Independence, Mr. McKean 
voted for and Mr. Read against it ; not that the latter was opposed to 
this great measure, but thought it premature, the people, and especially 
many of his own constituents, not being ripe for it. Mr. McKean, by 
despatching an express at his own expense to Caesar Rodney, secured 
his attendance on the 4th of July, 1776, when the Declaration was re- 
ported from the committee of the whole, and so decided the vote of 
Delaware in favor of it. The omission of his name in the printed jour- 
nals of Congress from among the signers to the Declaration of Inde- 
pendence, though there is no evidence extant that it was by designed 
injustice to him, but accidental, he with characteristic warmth took 
much to heart, as defrauding him of a well-deserved honor. He signed 
the Declaration, as did Mr. Read, who gave it as sincere and earnest 
support as his colleagues. He had previously been a member of a con- 
vention of Pennsylvania which (June, 1776) declared willingness to 
concur with Congress in declaring independence, and with Dr. Franklin 
made known to Congress their resolution to this effect. He was chosen, 
July 5th, 1776, Chairman of the Committee of Safety of Pennsylvania. 
At this time he was also colonel of a regiment of militia (called Associ- 
ators) of Philadelphia, at the head of which he marched into New 
Jersey, to join the "flying camp" often thousand men in New Jersey. 
During his service, though not in battle, — for none occurred, — he was 
exposed to peril, particularly in an affair at Perth Amboy, July 25th, 
1776, in which he showed commendable courage. He served a short 
time with the "flying camp," and returned to his more appropriate 
place in Congress. In the autumn of 1776 he was a member of the 
convention that framed the first constitution of Delaware, and of the 
committee which reported the draft of it, — adopted with some amend- 
ments. In 1777 Mr. McKean was appointed Chief Justice of Pennsyl- 
vania ; and upon the capture of President McKinley, after the battle of 
Brandy wine, being Speaker of the House of Delegates of Delaware, he 
assumed the vice-presidency of that State, while Mr. Read (the vice- 
president) was journeying thither, circuitously, from Philadelphia, the 
direct road from thence being occupied by the British. Mr. McKean 
had his full share of the anxieties, troubles, and sacrifices of the public 
men of his day. "I was hunted," wrote he to John Adams, "like a 
fox, and envied by those who ought to have been my friends. Five 
times in a few months I was compelled to remove my family, and at 
last fixed them in a little log-house on the Susquehanna ; but safety was 
not to be found there, and incursions of the Indians soon obliged them 
again to remove." He was commissioned (July 28th, 1777) Chief 



OF GEOBGE READ. 335 

Justice of Pennsylvania, being- at the same lime member of tiie House 
of Assembly of Delaware and its Speaker, and one of its delo;^ates in 
the Continental Con^ii^ress. In a lettiu- to the Leg-islature of Delaware, 
December 25th, 1780, he comphiined of the inipairment of his health 
and fortune by his necessarily g-reat and unremitted attention to public 
affairs, and begged they would appoint as his colleagues in Congress 
men who would attend there during his absence on his circuits, and 
relieve him occasionally at other times. A resignation of some one or 
more of offices manifestly, in some degree at least, incompatible, was his 
obvious remedy ; but if he saw no impropriety in his teimre of such 
offices, neither did most of the distinguished of his contemporaries, nor 
the people generally, then, nor till long after. While delegate in Con- 
gress, he did not in any year of his service receive the amount of his 
expenses, and in some years nothing; love of lucre was not therefore 
his motive for retaining his membership of Congress.* 

He was elevated (July 10th. 1781) to the presidency of Congress, 
and held that station till his resignation of it, which took effect in No- 
vember of that year, with the thanks of that body for his able and faith- 
ful discharge of his duties. 

No man of marked character, ability, and zeal, as was Mr. McKean, 
could embark in i)ublic affairs, fdl high offices, and discharge their duties, 
without taking the wind out of the sails of competitors, crossing their 
paths, and jostling them aside, — deciding claims to the dissatisfaction 
generally of one of the contestants and exposing delinquents. Such 
men were his enemies, with others, deceived by misrepresentations, or 
mislead by party violence. His acceptance of the office of President of 
Congress, while Chief Justice of Pennsylvania, afforded plausible ground 
to assail him, which was seized eagerly. He was attacked and defended 
in the newspapers. It was truly alleged that the constitutional i)ro- 
vision of Pennsylvania, inhibiting the holding of these offices by one 
person at the same time, was of no force in Delaware, — the delegate of 
which State he was; and many precedents of members of Congress who 
had been and were then judges were triumphantly cited. He was cer- 
tainly justified by the opinion and practice then almost universal. These 
offices, however, were clearly incompatible. The holding of incom- 
patible office is now, I believe, prohibited b}' the constitutions of all the 
States, and, in the absence of constitutional prohibition, the latitude our 
forefathers indulged in this matter would not be tolerated. t 

He was well qualified for the office of chief justice by his power to 
reason, discriminate, and combine, his great learning and ready use of 
it, his courage, firmness, and inflexibility — but little accessible to plead- 
ings for mercy ; and so much the slave of party (as appears by the 
authority cited in the sequel of this sketch) as to lend more than once 
his juridical power to punish its enemies, and, still worse, his own. He 
would, I believe, in the darkest periods of our Revolution have fearlessly 
charged a jury against a prisoner indicted for treason, defying the power 
of the British monarch, and was never frightened from his duty by 
popular clamor. These positions are sustained by his charge in Car- 
lisle's and Roberts's cases (Biography of the Signers, vol. iv. p. 25), and 

* Biography of the Signers of the Dficlnration of Independence, vol. iv. pj). 10-22. 
t Ibid., vol. iv. p. 22-20. 



336 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 

by the Habeas Corpus case (ibid., vol. iv. pp. 26, 27) and Chapman's 
case (1st Dallas, p. ). And he did not shrink from asserting the 
supremacy of the civil over the military power (Hooper's case, ibid., 
vol. iv. pp. 28, 29). The necessity for hanging Carlisle and Roberts 
is, I think, doubtful. It is true the issue of our contest with Britain 
was still uncertain. Philadelphia, where their treason had been com- 
mitted, while occupied by General Howe, was recently recovered, and 
communications from spies there would be invited and rewarded, and 
they were especially dangerous in a city the seat of the national govern- 
ment ; but, on the other hand, it was true that the Americans were in 
peaceable possession of the town, and the disaffected had either fled 
with the British when they evacuated it, or were scared into submission 
and silence, and therefore there was little probability that they would 
venture to plot treason or give information to the enemy. With plausi- 
bility, then, at least, it may be urged that the poor carpenter, Carlisle, 
and the equally obscure Roberts, might have been treated with clem- 
ency by the Chief Justice and President of Pennsylvania, without im- 
periling the public. A judge of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania 
said, "Chief Justice McKean was a great man, and his merit as a 
lawyer and judge has not been sufficiently appreciated. His legal learn- 
ing was profound and accurate, the lucidity of his explications and per- 
spicuity of his language were perfect, and his dignified manner in 
charging a jury or delivering an opinion on a law argument unequalled. 
His comprehension of mind in taking notes embracing substance, with- 
out omitting anything material, was inimitable."* 

Oswald, editor of the "Independent Gi-azetteer," having a case depend- 
ing in Pennsylvania wherein he was defendant, printed in this paper an 
address to the people, appearing to be intended to defeat the just de- 
cision of this suit, by exciting public prejudice against the party who 
bad instituted and the court that must try it. McKean fired up at this 
assault, and fined and imprisoned Oswald to the amount of ten pounds 
and for the period of one month, from the 15th day of July to the 15th 
day of August, — these explanatory words having not been entered in the 
record of the case. At the end of the legal month (twenty-eight days) 
Oswald claimed his discharge, which the sheriff, having heard the sen- 
tence as pronounced, denied, as did McKean when the matter was first 
brought V)ofore him, bijt, as soon as he saw the record, granted. Oswald 
(September 5th, 1185) alleged, by petition to the House of Assembly 
of Pennsylvania, that his imprisonment had been unlawfully extended, 
and that he had been illegally sentenced, and prayed for the impeach- 
ment of McKean and his colleagues. Earnest and protracted debates 
ensued, Fitzsimmons, Clymer, and the eminent lawyer Lewis defending 
the assailed judges, and Findley, with others, vehemently maintaining 
that their sentence of Oswald for a constructive and implied contempt, 
not committed in the presence of the court, or against its officers or 
order, but for writing and publishing an improper and indecent article 
concerning them and a case in their court, was a violation of the consti- 
tution and a dangerous precedent. The result was a resolution that, 
after full investigation of the charges and evidence brought to sustain 
them, there was no just ground to impeach the accused judges. A 

* Biography of the Signers of the Declaration of Independence, vol. iv. pp. 29, 30. 



OF GEORGE READ. 337 

resolution also was defeated asking the next Legislature to define con- 
tempts and prescribe their punishment, on the ground that this legis- 
lation would be nugatory, because the Sujjromc Court derived its power 
to declare what was contempt and to punish it from an authority para- 
mount to the Legislature — the Constitution. Thus was sanctioned the 
sound doctrine that courts can punish for contempt, — " essential, truly," 
said McKean, "to the very existence of courts, and without Avhi'ch they 
would be contemptible, and so ancient that there is no period when it 
was not held."* 

McKean was elected to the convention of the State of Pennsylvania 
which met November 20th, 1787, to consider the constitution proposed 
for the United States, and took a prominent part in advocating the rati- 
fication it received by this body, emphatically declaring it "the best the 
world has yet seen." He had carefully noted the proceedings of the 
illustrious assembly who framed the Constitution of the United States, 
and was ever hopeful that success would crown their labors ; and, though 
then a citizen of Pennsylvania, advocated the equal vote claimed by the 
smaller States to protect them from their powerful sisters, as he had 
done, with much ability, in the congresses of 17G5 and 1774.f 

The framers of the Constitution of Pennsylvania, adopted in 1776, if 
judged by their work, were mere tyros in politics. It provided a single 
legislature, a plural executive, a judiciary with a seven years' tenure of 
office, and the puerile device of a council of censors, to take cognizance 
of breaches of the Constitution by the Legislature, and with no more 
power than to recommend the repeal of unconstitutional laws. Reflect- 
ing men could not be blind to such blemishes as these, nor insensible to 
the duty of removing them. Unhappily party spirit, which had been 
in Pennsylvania, from the earliest period of her history, more violent 
than elsewhere in the North American colonies,^ was unabated, and 
was soon manifested with increased virulence in the party who defended 
the Constitution and called themselves Constitutionalists, and their 
opponents, who assumed a more attractive name,— that of Republicans. 
Fierce was the strife between those parties, and Chief Justice McKean 
could not descend (as unhappily for his fame he did) from his judicial 
seat to lead in the onslaughts of one of them without spots on his 
ermine. The Constitution, it was urged, wanted checks and balances 
and a due distribution of power, and it was replied that none but aristo- 
crats and federalists would see this imaginary defect in such a perfect 
exemplar of polity. To the council of censors, soon to meet, belonged, 
it was contended, the power to call a convention ; but it was replied 
that the representation therein was unequal, the counties with diflferent 
populations having each two members in this body, and a two-thirds 
vote necessary unlikely to be given, and its members (a puerile ob- 
jection) under oath to maintain the government existing. The Legis- 
lature enacted that a convention should be called and an election held 
for its members, of whom the most prominent were McKean, Mifflin, 



* Biography of the Signers of the Declaration of Independence, vol. iv. pp. 31-34 

flbid., pp. 3;>-37. ' 

X Probiihly from the difficultie.s in administering government, caused bv the 

peculiar Qiuikcr tenets and the selfish attempts of the proprietaries to exempt their 

land-s from a fair show of taxation. 



338 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 

and Wilson, Constitutionalists, and Snyder, Findley, and Smiley, Re- 
publicans, — the former having a small majority. A new constitution 
was the result (a.d. 1790), better than the one it superseded, because it 
provided a senate, the life-tenure of judges in the superior courts, and dis- 
carded the executive council, a clog to an efficient executive, or a cloak to 
an incompetent or faithless chief magistrate, while it gave the governor 
a qualified veto.* McKean was chairman of "the committee of the 
whole" of the convention which considered the amendments proposed 
to the constitution, and therefore excluded from the prominent share 
he would otherwise have taken in the discussions they called forth. It 
should be remembered to his honor that he was author of the provision 
in the new constitution for the gratuitous education of the poor.f 

The enthusiasm of the American people for France, at the com- 
mencement of her revolution, was natural, but it soon became so ex- 
travagant as to disturb the tranquillity of the United States and 
enda,nger the peace happily subsisting between them and other nations. 
In imitation of French Jacobins, societies, named democratic, were or- 
ganized throughout the States, and hence the French party derived the 
name of "Democrats," who, defeated in their insane purpose of so com- 
mitting their government to the support of the Jacobins as to involve 
it in war with England, by the wise policy of Washington were now 
fast ai-raying themselves in opposition to his administration. McKeau 
saw they would be the dominant party in Pennsylvania, and with Gov- 
ernor Mifflin, they having more popularity and influence than any beside 
them, he determined, like the vicar of Bray, to be always with the win- 
ning side, declared himself a Democrat, and thus Mifflin's re-election as 
governor was gained. | 

McKean and^Reag^were appointed by Pennsylvania commissioners 
to attempt, in conjunction with those appointed by the United States, 
to pacify the counties disturbed by the whiskey insurrectionists, but 
they were unsuccessful. At Carlisle, as they returned, they required 
persons guilty of acts of sedition to enter recognizance to be of good be- 
havior, and scarcely had turned their backs on this village, as it then 
was, when they were burned in effigy. Perhaps the Chief Justice was 
consoled under this outrage by the hope that it might be his province 
to try and sentence the perpetrators of this insult to his dignity, — if so, 
I ani sure full justice would have been meted to them, perhaps unteni- 
pered by mercy. § 

I cannot better narrate McKean's history in the closing period of his 
chief-justiceship, and tlu'ough some of the nine years he filled the office 
of governor, than by grouping from the volumes of a recent historian 
the following paragraphs : 

"While the newly- appointed American envoys [to France, a.d. 
1797] were preparing to depart, Monroe, the recalled minister [with 
implied censure], arrived in Philadelphia. The opposition received him 
with open arms, and he was entertained at a public dinner, at which 



*Hildreth's History of the United States (2d Series), vol. 1. pp. 231-237. 
f Biography of the Signers of the Declaration of Independence, vol. iv. p. 40. 
X Hildreth's History of the United States, vol. i. pp. 231-237. Ibid., p. 42.5. 
I Ibid., pp. 505, 511. 



OF GEOEGE READ. 339 

McKcan presided, and Jefferson, the Vice-President, with a larji^e num- 
ber of both Houses of Congress, includinq- Dayton, Speaker of the Ilouse 
of Re])resentatives, were present. In the warmth of ap|)hui.se and ap- 
proval McKean's speech of welcome to Monroe fell little short of the 
eulogies of Merlin and Barras, models he seemed desirous to imitate.* 
" Yrujo, the Spanish minister, following in the wake of France, had 
warmly remonstrated against Jay's treaty, as unfair towards Spain and 
inconsistent with the treaty of the United States with her. Cobbett, 
in his gazette, inveighed against the subserviency of Spain to France, — 
to her king to the infidel despots of Paris, to his minister to French agents 
in the United States. Yrujo [he described as] half don, half sans-cu- 
lotte. Talleyrand complained of the newspaper attacks on France, and 
Yrujo, of those on Spain, and the Attorney-General of the United States 
was directed to la}' the matter before the Grand Jury of the Federal 
Court, and Cobbett was bound over by Judge Peters to appear at the 
next term [of this court]. Y'rujo, however, preferred bringing this 
matter before the Pennsylvania courts, not onl\' as a more speedy pro- 
cess, but because he relied more on the justice or favor of the State- 
bench. McKean, whose daughter Yrujo shortly after married, had not 
escaped Cobbett's shafts. Not willing to risk a civil suit for damages, or 
even an indictment, McKean resorted to a contrivance founded on some 
old English precedents, of doubtful legality, sustained by a decision of 
the Court of Appeals four years after, but nowhere else recognized by 
any court of law, and tacitly set aside by Chief Justice Tilghman five 
or six years afterwards. This was the contrivance : he issued his war- 
rant, in which Cobbett was charged generally with libelling McKean, 
Mifflin, Dallas, Jefferson, Monroe, Gallatin, and others, on which Cobbett 
was not only bound over to appear at the next criminal court, but re- 
quired to give security to keep the peace and be of good behavior in 
the mean time. He then commenced collecting everything published in 
Cobbett's gazette liable to be charged as libellous, with a view, because 
of the same, to have his recognizance declared forfeited, — which was 
done. He then took up Yrujo's case \varmly, and issued a second 
warrant, charging Cobbett with having published infamous libels 
against the Spanish king, his minister, and the Spanish nation, tending 
to alienate their regard from the United States, to inspire hatred of her, 
and to excite to war. To the grand jury, soon after assembled, he gave 
a remarkable charge, almost exclusively devoted to the subject of libels ; 
like all his judicial performances, — for as a lawyer he had few equals, — 
very able. Strange to say, to the licentiousness of the press he then so 
truly described and eloquently denounced till now he was insensible, 
although it had been vomiting forth libels for several years against 
Washington, Hamilton, and other eminent leaders, and the British na- 
tion and government; but then, when a paper had been established to 
retort these libels on the Democrats by publishing disagreeable and 
scandalous truths against their leaders, the Democratic chief justice, 
by an illegal stretch of power, was straining every nerve to induce 
the grand jury to indict Cobbett for libels, — not against McKean himself, 
charged with being engaged in constant braw Is with his wife, to such 
extent that blows were given and returned, and with being so ha- 

* Hildreth's History of the United States (2d Series), vol. ii. p. 97. 



340 -^IFE AND COBRESPONDENGE 

bitual a drunkard* that, according to a memorial signed by most of the 
members of the Philadelphia bar, person and property were not safe in 
Pennsylvania after dinner, — not for a libel against Mifflin, charged with 
being an insolvent debtor and debauchee, nor for a libel against Dallas, 
Monroe, Barney, and other Democrats held up, in various ways, to con- 
tempt and ridicule, but for a libel against the Spanish king and his 
minister, Yrujo ; but all these charges against McKean, Mifflin, and 
the other Democrats [mentioned] had too much foundation in fact, 
easil}^ proved, to make prosecution expedient. It was remarkable that 
McKean should manifest such tenderness for the characters of Barras, 
Merlin, the Spanish king, and Yrujo, when he had been unmoved by 
the lavish abuse of Washington, Hamilton, and other eminent Feder- 
alists.f 

" Mifflin's administration was chiefly controlled by Dallas, his secre- 
tary, and Chief Justice McKean ; and to continue their power, McKean 
was brought forward [a.d., 1799] as Republican candidate, and defeated 
Ross, who was nominated by the Federalists.! 

"Knowing how conservative McKean was in most of his opifiions, 
the Federalists hoped that, being elected, he would abate somewhat of 
the vehemence he manifested as a candidate ; but in his replies to the con- 
gratulatory addresses of his partisans he stigmatized all who had op- 
posed him as enemies to the principles of the American Revolution, 
foreign emissaries, or Federal expectants of office, and as soon as he 
was inducted into office made a vigorous use of his power of removal 
and appcfintment. Mifflin had appointed chiefly officers his companions 
in the Revolutionary war : these were generally Federalists, and sup- 
ported Ross, and were removed by McKean, who filled their places with 
his own partisans. "§ 

While I lament, I ought not to conceal or attempt to palliate the blot 
on McKcan's fame that he inaugurated in Pennsylvania the mean, mer- 
cenary, and corrupting principle, "that to the victors belong the spoils,''^ 
which has since too much governed in our party contests. His pro- 
scription of Federal office-holders was wide, ruthless, and unrelenting. 
Writing to Jefferson, 10th Januar}", 1801, he regrets "only that he did 
not remove ten or eleven more, because it is imprudent to foster spies 
and put daggers in the hands of assassins." Not content with this pro- 
scription, which had spread dismay and ruin through the ranks of the 
vanquished Federalists, he used, with apparent alacrity, his great in- 
fluence Avith President Jefferson to extend it to Delaware. In a letter to 
him, 20th July, 1801, avowedly as the agent of Democrats in this 
State, he writes, " The anti-Republicans, even those in office, are as 
hostile as ever, though not so insolent. To overcome them they must 
be shaven, for in their offices (like Samson's hair locks) their great 
strength lieth: their disposition for mischief will remain, but the power 
of doing it will be gone." He wrote to John Dickinson, June 23d, 
1800, "I have never had greater employment for body and mind than 

* It is improbable that a habitual drunkard could have lived, as McKean did, 
to over his eighty-third year. 

t Hildreth's History of the United States (2d series), vol. ii. pp. 162-173. 
X Hildreth's History of the United States, vol ii. pp. 313, 314, 360, 361. 
I Biographj- of the Signers, vol. iv. p. 45. Ibid., p. 42. 



OF GEORGE READ. 341 

for the last six months. I have waded through a sea of troubles, and 
have surmounted my principal difficulties ; I have been obliged, though 
no Hercules, to cleanse the Augean stal)le [such he deemed Pennsyl- 
vania as long as there were Federal office-holders within her bounda- 
ries] with little or no aid, for I have been my own minister and aman- 
uensis. A governor of Pennsylvania has more duty to perform than 
the President of the United States, or an}^ [other] governor in the 
Union." During his long public career he never turned his back to an 
enemy or shrunk from' any labor. The writer of " McKean's Life," in 
volume iv. of the Biographies of the Signers of the Declaration, having 
(p. 42) well asserted his duty to expose the defects of his subject with- 
out being turned aside by respect for national or family feeling, further 
most truly remarks : " Patriotism could have had no part in loading 
with reproach and detruding from office upright and (according to their 
views) honest politicians of a particular party, as unworthy to share 
the honors or eat the bread of their country. When parties conquer, 
are the possessions of the vanquished power, however honestly ac- 
quired and honorably maintained, to be parcelled out, in the true spirit 
of the feudal system, among the champions of their leaders ? No ^soph- 
istry can justify acts by which helpless families are reduced to indi- 
gence and expelled from their homes, not because of the infidelity of 
their heads to their official trusts, but because they held not the political 
principles of the new party in power." — Ihid., p. 43.* 

In January, 1800, Governor McKean delivered his inaugural address 
to the Pennsylvania Legislature, to which this bod}' responded, ap- 
proving its opinions, but coupling with it what he considered a repri- 
mand of the proscriptive style of his replies to congratulatory addresses 
upon his election and upon his system of removals from office. " Never 
patient of reproof, he made a long and caustic repl}', marked b}- the 
usual ability of his writings, denying their right to intermeddle in the 
form of an address with these matters. "f This occurrence, to those 
who knew the nian, foreshadowed a stormy term of office as before him, 
and that he would be more disturbed by the disgust and disloyalty of 
the Democrats, provoked by his intractables, than by the hatred of the 
Federalists. 

In 1803 Thomas McKean was re-elected Governor of Pennsylvania. 
The ascendency of the Democrats was soon endangered by the schemes 
of ambitious and restless men, who pushed the theories of their party 
to extremes, destructive of good government, which he was too wise to 
approve, and, disapproving, too honest to further. Dictation was tried, 
to which he never submitted. Lawyers were especially obnoxious to 

* It -was plaii.-ibly urged, in defence of his proscription of liis political enemies, 
tliat to have retained in office, at the commencement of his administration, men 
who, during the preceding contest, had been violent and intemperate in their 
opposition to him and his friends and their principles, would have made the 
easy and efficient working of the State government difficult to bo accomplished, 
and have manifested disregard and contempt for the will of the people, doavly 
indicated that these incumbents should give place to persons who would co-oper- 
ate in maintaining the true doctrines of the Democratic party. Further, it is 
stated that upon the subsidence of intense political excitement, he conferred 
offices, espociallv high judicial ones, without respect to party. 

t Hildreth's Ilistory of the United States (2d Scries), vol. ii. pp. 301, 3G2. 



342 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 

these ultra Democrats, " who thought if they could get rid of trials by 
jury they would also be rid of lawyers, and therefore passed an act 
substituting referees for jury trials, and prohibiting the employment of 
counsel in refei'ence cases. This act McKean vetoed, and another, ex- 
tending the jurisdiction of justices of the peace, which they passed over 
him. The quarrel soon rose to a great height, and he was violently 
assailed by his late ally, Duane, aided by Leib."* The breach between 
these quondam friends went on widening. "The fury of the 'Aurora' 
and ultra Democrats on the acquittal of several of the Pennsylvania 
judges, who had been impeached in 1805, knew no bounds. They 
started immediately the project of remodelling the Constitution. This 
was opposed by the more moderate Democrats, including the approvers 
of McKean's vetoes and the enemies of Duane and Leib. The mod- 
erate Democrats took the name of ' Constitutionalists,' and organized a 
' Constitutional Society,' and the other section of the Democrats a club, 
called the ' Friends of the People.' The Federalists looked on and en- 
joyed the strife. The ultra Democrats nominated Snyder for governor. 
and the friends of the Constitution, McKean. He was stigmatized as a 
demagogue, ready to make display to obtain preferment, of the most 
Republican zeal, being all the while, by education, sentiment, and habit, 
an overbearing aristocrat, who, having obtained office first and re-elec- 
tion to it, had always treated the Democratic Legislature with sullen- 
ness and virulence and disrespect, and had finally attempted, with Fed- 
eral aid, to set up a third party. He and his friends now felt the biting 
lash of the 'Aurora.' The Federalists generally supported McKean, 
and he was elected [for the third time] governor by five thousand ma- 
jority,! and turned out of office the more vehement Democrats, as he 
had turned out the Federalists, and commenced a number of libel suits. 
The ultra Democrats, at the fall election in 1806, recovered their as- 
cendency, and proposed to impeach McKean, but referred decisive action 
to the next Assembly." 

Early in 180t petitions from the city and county of Philadelphia 
were sent to the Legislature, praying an inquiry into the conduct of 
Governor McKean. They were referred to a committee, who reported 
that he had avoided a late election of sheriff in Philadelphia; had usurped' 
judicial authority by issuing a warrant for the arrest of one Joseph 
Cabrera, and interfered illegally and unconstitutionally in favor of a 
convicted forger ; that illegally he appointed Dr. Buchanan physician 
to the Lazaretto, and superseded Reynolds, a member of the Board of 
Health, and unconstitutionally suffered his name to be stamped on 
blank patents ; and did off"er and authorize to be made overtures to dis- 
continue two actions of the State against William Duane, for the for- 
feiture of two recognizances of one thousand dollars each, on condition 
that he would discontinue civil suits against his son, Joseph B. McKean, 
and others, for a homicidal assault by them upon Duane. After dilating 
upon these accusations, as showing tyranny and corruption dangerous 
to the people, in terms so embittered as to point to disappointed poli- 
ticians as having prompted them, this committee recommend that 



*Hilclreth's History of the United States, vol. ii. pp. 514, 515. 
flbid., pp. 504, G66. 



OF GEORGE READ. 343 

Tliomas McKcan, Governor of the Commonwealth, be impeached of 
high crimes and misdemeanors. The friends of McKean pressed the 
consideration of this resolution, and on the 27th of January, 1808, it 
was taken up and indefinitely ])ostponed, though only by three votes. 
On the 28th of this .month he sent, by his secretary, his re])ly to the 
charges made against him, which he was obliged to do. inasmuch as 
the House having with justice and independence, of which he was sen- 
sible, refused to impeach him, he could not defend himself l)efore a 
competent tribunal. "He reviewed the charges with his usual ability, 
admitting the sixth, but denying the inference of any corrupt partiality 
or any misbehavior under any of the proposed articles of impeachment. 
He began with the solemn declaration that no act of his public or pri- 
vate life had been prompted by malice, love of power, or desire of wealth, 
whatever might have been his errors of judgment; and no doubt he was 
honest in this assertion, such is the power of self-deception with men 
of his temperament."* This replication contains a masterly disquisition 
upon many of the powers and duties of the executive, which has borne 
scrutiny, and is a useful guide on the questions and others similar to 
those of which it treats.f 

In 1808 Thomas McKean completed the third term of his service in 
the office of Governor of Pennsylvania, and retired from public life. 
Three years after he wrote to John Adams: "I have shaken hands 
with the world, and we have said farewell to each other. The toys 
and rattles of childhood would, in a few 3^ears more, be as suitable to 
me as offices, honors, or wealth ; but (thank God) my faculties of mind 
are yet little, if any, impaired, and my affections and friendships remain 
unshaken. Since my exemption from official and professional duties I 
have enjoyed a tranquillity never (during a long-protracted life) hereto- 
fore experienced, and my health and comforts are sufficient for a mod- 
erate man." But he left the retirement, his happiness in which was 
the well-deserved reward of his services to his country, to give his last 
manifestation of his undying love for her. The menaced attack upon 
Washington, in 1814, aroused the people of Philadelphia to a proper 
sense of the necessity of defence against the enemy, who might soon 
assail her. There was a great assemblage of the citizens of Philadel- 
phia, August 26th, in the State-House square, to determine upon the 
measures necessary for the protection of their altars and their hearths. 
McKean was requested to be present, and when he entered that square, 
where the Declaration of Independence he had so eloquently and boldly 
advocated and sustained with such unwavering zeal was proclaimed, he 
was received not with acclamation, but with respect and reverence too 
heartfelt for such expression of them. He was called unanimously to 
the chair, and in a brief speech, with all the dignity, and somewhat, at 
least, of the eloquence with which he stirred the hearts of the men of 
Seventy-six, the venerable man set forth the peril which was so immi- 
nent, and urged the prompt adoption of measures to meet it. In the 
report of the proceedings of this meetin;^ there is this graphic account 
of them : '' There was no jjarade of devotion to the country, and no 
long speeches, for Governor McKean said .'this was not a time for 

*nildreth'.s History of the United States, vol. iii. pp. G70, C78. 

t Biography of the Signers of the Declaration of Independence, vol. iv. p. 53. 



344 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 

speaking but acting ;' no declarations of oblivion of the past, for Gov- 
ernor McKean said ' we have nothing to do with the past, we must 
only think of the present ;' and there was no recommendation to sup- 
press party contentions, for Governor McKean said ' there were but 
I two parties — our country and its invaders.' "* 

h U^ On the Tr^ftk day of June, 1811, he died in the eighty-fourth year of his 

I age. His grave is in the cemetery of the First Presbyterian Church of 

Philadelphia, to which he belonged. He was tall, erect, and dignified, and 
his face expressive of ability, courage, and fortitude, which were his cha- 
racteristics. His first wife was a daughter of Joseph Borden, of New 
Jersey, and his second Miss Armitage, of New Castle, iu the State of 
')JjOh Delaware. By the first wife he had six, and by the second eleven^, 
children. cUi^^i^x ^^ aJJ , /^' ^ "^ 

* Biography of the Signers of the Declaration of Independence, vol. iv. pp. 5G—58. 



OF GEORGE READ. 345 



CHAPTER V. 

Gloomy state of affairs (1770) — British make the Southern States the seat of war 
— Tieport of committee of Delaware General Assembly on the Articles of Con- 
federation — ]Mr. Head author of it and of act autiiorizinij Delaware dclet^ates to 
ratify these articles — liesi<;ns his seat in the General Assembly of Delaware — 
Letter of James Read — Policy of France and Spain — Mr. Read member of 
Delaware Legislative Council. 1780 — Summary of events, 1780-81 — Letters of 
Messj's. Read, Dickinson, and Bassett — Gift of State constitutions from J. 
Dickinson to Mr. Read — Letters of Mr. S. AVharton and Mrs. Thomas Read to 
Mr. Read — Letter of ilr. Dickinson — Mr. Read a]ipointcd Judge of Court of 
Appeals in admiralty cases — Letter of Mr. Boudinot, and his reply on this occa- 
sion — Subserviency to Pennsylvania in the ap[)ointment of Dehiware delegates 
to Congress falsely charged in 1782 — State of public affairs — Letter of Gunning 
Bedford announcing treaty of peace — Letters of Mr. Read and Mr. Dickinson 
— "Letter of credit" to Nathan Thomas — Act of Delaware Legislature for 
"calling in, paying, and destroying certain bills of credit," and protest of 
Messrs. Bassett and Read against a provision thereof — Death of the Rev. Wil- 
liam Tliomson — Inconvenience from the "letter of credit" to N. Thomas; 
which continued — !Mr. Read re-elected to the Legislative Council of Delaware 
— Sends his youngest son to Princeton College — His letter to President Wither- 
spoon — Oppressed with business — Letter to J. Dickinson — State of public 
affairs (1780) — Letters of C. Thomson and Mr. Read — His letter to President 
Van Dyke, and his reply and comments on it — Letter of Mr. Read to C. Thom- 
son, and of J. Dickinson to Mr. Read — Remarks on state of public affairs — 
Mr. Read elected Commissioner to Commercial Convention proposed to meet 
at Annapolis — Resolves of Congress as to Court of Appeals, and letter of C. 
Thomson in relation to them — Letter of J. Dickinson as to journey to Annapo- 
lis; remarks thereon — Letters of Cyrus Griltin and James Read — Commission- 
ers meet at Annapolis; result — ]Mr. Read's letter to C. Thomson as to conflict 
of his duties to attend '' Court of Appeals" and General Assembly of Delaware, 
both meeting in November, 178(i — Letters of Messrs. Read and Dickinson — 
Appendix "A," authority to Delaware delegates to ratify the Articles of Con- 
federation — Appendix " B," account qf " Court of Appeals in admiralty cases" 
— Appendix "C," state of polls at election in New Castle County, 178G — Ap- 
pendix " D," commission of Delaware delegates to convention at Annapolis — 
Appendix '-E," notice of Thomas Collins — Appendix "E" — notice of Dr. 
Witherspoon. 

Early in 1779 General Wasliington wrote to one of his 
friends, "I have seen without despondency, even for a mo- 
ment, the hours which America has styled her gloomy ones, 
but 1 have beheld no day since the commencement of hos- 
tilities when I have thought her liberties in such imminent 
danger as at present." For this apprehension there was too 
much ground. The treaty of alliance with France, received 
with exultation, as securing independence, it now seemed, 
was to make all past toils and sacrifices for this great end 
unavailing by one of its results, — the general persuasion 
that it rendered further exertions of America in the war 

23 



346 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE . 

with Great Britain unnecessary. In consequence of this 
mistaken opinion, universal apathy prevailed. In vain in- 
dividuals and States were urged to the sacrifices and eiforts 
essential to success, — the empty treasury of the Confederacy 
was not replenished, and, when the season of active 
operations in the field had almost commenced, the States, 
called upon months before by Congress for their quotas of 
troops, had yet to adopt measures for raising them. Thirst 
for office and greed of gain, impelling men to reckless and 
ruinous specuhation, prevailed to a great extent, and Con- 
gress, torn by dissensions originated by mutual criminations 
of some of her diplomatic agents, had ceased to command, 
universal reverence and confidence, as in happier antece- 
dent periods, and it did not deserve them, the ablest and 
most patriotic of its members having withdrawn from its 
halls to the service of the State or to private life. The de- 
preciated bills of the States and of Congress were hourly 
becoming more depreciated, and this was a mighty evil. 
That the enemy, lately ready to abandon the contest as 
hopeless, should, under the circumstances, be emboldened 
to persevere in it, was to be expected. It was determined 
by the British ministry to make the Southern States the 
seat of war; disaffection prevailed in parts of them to such 
an extent as to awaken the hope that they could be subju- 
gated, and, if conquered, should Britain be compelled to ac- 
knowledge the independence of the middle and northern 
colonies, she might still retain the richer southern ones, or 
at any rate obtain better terlns by surrendering them for 
equivalents, Ketaining the city of New York and the ad- 
jacent isles, with Rhode Island, — his troops being in number 
sixteen or seventeen thousand, — Sir Henry Clinton sent 
forth detachments from his army to ravage vulnerable parts 
of Virginia and Connecticut, while General Washington, 
with an inferior force, could only protect the country east 
and west of the Hudson from spoliation, and especially the 
passes of the Highlands from being seized by the British, 
wisel}^ preserving his army, in positions impregnable, for 
co-operation with the troops of his Most Christian Majesty, 
soon to be welcomed to their shores. 

Mr. Read was among the able and patriotic men whose 
absence from the Continental Congress Washington de- 
plored, but still he was a member of the Council of Del- 
aware. 



OF GEORGE READ. 347 

On the 2d of February, 1779, Thomas McKean laid before 
Congress sundry resohitions rehitive to tlie Articles of Con- 
federation and Perpetual Union adopted by the Council of 
Delaware, in the preceding month of January, and con- 
curred in by the House of Assembly previously to the pas- 
sage of a law empowering their delegates in Congress to 
sign and ratify them."*' Mr. Read, one of the committee 
appointed to take these articles into consideration, wn^te 
these resolutions and the report of this committee, which I 
offer to my readers as a specimen of his style, and the able 
opinion of a sound lawyer upon a subject of great interest. 

" The committee to whom were referred the Articles of 
Confederation proposed by Congress for a Union of the 
States of America, do report thereupon as follows : 

" That, having duly considered the said articles, they 
generall}^ approve of the same, but that there are particular 
parts of the eighth and ninth articles liable to just and 
strong objections, and, should they continue unaltered, 
will, in the opinion of your committee, prove prejudicial in 
their effects, not only to this State, but to the general con- 
federacy. 

" That part of the eighth article objected to, and disap- 
proved by your committee, is the manner prescribed for the 
supply of a common treasury by the several States, to wit : 
*in proportion to the value of land within each State 
cjranted to or mirveyed for any person, as such land and the 
buildings and improvements thereon shall be estimated, ac- 
cording to such mode as the United States, in congress 
assembled, shall from time to time direct and appoint.' 
Such valuation, in any mode we can suppose to produce 
equality, appears to your committee an impracticable 
thing; but if not, it will be attended with so great expense 
of money and time, and that to be frequently repeated, 
from the sudden alterations in the value of such property, 
that your committee think the establishing the proportion 
of each State by the number of its inhabitants, of every 
age, sex, and quality, would prove a more equal and less 
expensive mode of ascertaining such proportion. 

* Corifrrcss (February 23d. 1779) ordered these resoliUions to be 
filed, with the protest thiit they slionld not by so orderinjr be under- 
stood a.s admitting- tlic elaiius therein set up. — Journal of Congress, 
vol. V. pp. 4y, 50. 



348 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 

'' Your committee also consider the confining such valua- 
tion to the granted or surveyed lands as inequitable, as they 
conceive the lands not yet granted have a value, and, if so, 
they ought to contribute ^jro rata towards the discharge of 
the great debt created by the vStates, under their past united 
efforts in the protection of that species of property, in com- 
mon with others, unless all the ungranted land shall be 
considered as jointly belonging to the United States, as con- 
quered at the common expense of blood and treasure, and 
which your committee consider they ought to be, on every 
principle of justice and sound policy, and that joint right 
expressed in the articles in as clear and precise terms as 
that 'the bills of credit emitted, money borrowed, and 
debts contracted, by or under the authority of Congress, 
shall be deemed and considered as a charge against the 
United States.' But this joint right, your committee ap- 
prehend, may hereafter be said to be resigned to each State 
wherein such lands lie, by certain parts of and expressions 
in the ninth article, disapproved of by your committee, to 
wit: by the words 'provided, also, that no State shall be 
deprived of territory for the benefit of the United States,' 
at the latter end of the second section ; and those words in 
the fourth section, which prescribe the powers of Congress, 
viz.: 'regulating the trade and managing all the affairs 
with the Indians not members of any of the States, pro- 
vided that the legislative right of any State, within its oum 
limits, shall not be infringed or violated.' 

" From the vague and extravagant descriptions of some 
of the States, in the first grants or charters for government, 
their claims for western limits have been to the Southern 
Ocean, including countries partially possessed by the kings 
of France and Spain. The provisional expressions in the 
article above mentioned, your committee apprehend, ma}^ 
and will be insisted to mean an admission of the extent of 
their respective limits westward to the said sea, and that 
all the ungranted land within those limits is State territory, 
and solely in the disposition of the States claiming those 
limits, though heretofore considered as belonging to the 
crown of Great Britain, and occasionally granted, with 
reservation of rents, to a great amount. Such admission, 
your committee apprehend, ought not to be, for that it will 
appropriate that to individual States w^hich hath been or 



OF GEORGE READ. 349 

may be acquired by the arms of the States general, and 
will furnish such individual State with a fund of wealth 
and strength which may jifompt them to subdue their 
neighbors, and eventually destroy the fabric we are now 
raising. To prevent which consequences, your committee 
are of opinion that not only the joint right in the ungrantod 
land should be expressed, as before mentioned, but that a 
moderate extent of limits beyond the present settlements 
in each of these States should be provided for in the said 
articles. 

"Your committee also object to and disapprove of the 
whole of the second section of the ninth article aforesaid, 
as destroying and taking away the legal jurisdiction of the 
courts of law established within this State for determining 
controversies concerning private rights to lands within the 
same, without fixing, with precision, another jurisdiction 
for the purpose." 

Mr. Read also drafted the act of Assembly which au- 
thorized the delegates of Delaware to ratify the Articles of 
Confederation.'-' 

C. Clay, a merchant, writes to Mr. Read as follows from 

"Philadelphia, March 24tb, 1779. 

" Sir, — Agreeable to your request, I have inquired the rate 
of exchange between this city and London, which I believe 
is from fourteen to fifteen hundred per cent., though I am 
not sufficiently informed to fix it precisely. Bills on France 
can be had at nine hundred ; indeed, exchange is generally 
governed by the price of specie, which, I am told, has been 
sold at eleven or twelve for one. 

" Your very obedient servant, 

" C. Clay." 

In a letter from Philadelphia (26th May, 1779) to Mr. 
Read from his brother James, he states: "We have been 
in a great bustle here yesterday at what they call a Tncn 
Meeting, for the declared purpose of lowering the prices of 
goods. It was exceedingly disorderly ; many people wore 
taken to jail and remain there. How this will end I can- 
not say." And June 19th, 1779, he informs Mr. Read 

* See Appendix A. 



350 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 

"that the town meetings and committees, who told us they 
would lower the price of goods and raise the credit of money, 
have made bad worse, and are ashamed of having exposed 
their weakness ; and that, by a newspaper publication, the 
wise men of Wilmington have undertaken the same busi- 
ness." 

James Read (23d March, 1779) informs Mr. Read that 
"Vattel's Law of Nations" would readily bring four hundred 
dollars, and one volume of " Gibbon" forty dollars. July 
13th, 1779, acknowledges the receipt of one thousand dol- 
lars for a mare ; and 21st of October of that year informs 
him that at a prize sale he bid as high as fifty-five pounds 
for a ream of indifferent writing paper, but did not get it, 
because it went up to seventy-five pounds, Mr. Read 
(11th March, 1780) sends his brother James twelve hun- 
dred dollars, to make ordinar}^ purchases for his family, and 
is informed that cassimere is three hundred, and jean and 
habit cloth sixty, dollars per yard. How could this be? 
The dollars were paper dollars, and depreciation of cur- 
rency, one of the greatest of national calamities, had fallen 
like a blight upon our forefathers, — part of the price they 
paid for independence. 

Mr. Read no doubt read with sorrow the letter below 
from his brother James, of the 7th of August, 1779. It 
shows that at this time Philadelphia was brought to a state 
bordering upon anarch}^ by the parties who disturbed and 
disgraced it by their insane violence : 

"Dear Brother, — I had your favor of the 5th inst., by 
Mr. Tatlow, for which I thank you, and have only to ob- 
serve that though I may be considered as moving in the 
very centre of politics, yet I am quite ignorant of the pres- 
ent system. I cannot help remarking that we have no 
government, and, I was [almost] going to say, no laws, for 
every man who takes a club in his hand to town meetings 
(which, by-the-by, have been very frequent of late) under- 
takes to be governor : and our executive powers submit 
very patiently to their new masters. Where it will end I 
know not, but must say that, great as my dislike to the 
Constitution''' may be, it is much greater to the present mob 

* Of Pennsvlvania, then recently established. 



OF GEOTiGE HEAD. 35I 

government. I am led to these reflections by the late trans- 
actions in this city, where everything has been riot for 
some time past; but tliese are ouv little x^jUtlcs, which I quit 
to congratulate you on the important news from the West 
Indies, which has doubtless reached you, and I think may 
be relied on, that the British lleet are totally disabled, and 
that the French ride triumphant in the West Indian 'seas, 
which I think must have great consequences in our fiivor; 
and as peace is our great object, I Hatter myself we shall 
have it shortly, upon such terms as will insure liberty and 
independence to our country. I must refer 3'ou to our 
brother Tliomas for the news of the day. All send love to 
you and flimily and all friends. 

"I remain your affectionate brother, 

"James Read." 

On the 18th of August, 1779, Mr. Read was compelled 
by ill health to decline serving longer in the Legislature of 
Delaware. In his address on this occasion to the freehold- 
ers of New Castle County, he observed " that he had served 
them in their General Assembly for the twelve preceding 
years without any solicitation on his part," and that " he 
was in earnest in declining, and did not wish to be courted 
to continue in their service, having no sinister ends to 
answer by this step, which had been suspected to have been 
the case of some who had given notice of the like kind 
heretofore." 

Spain, jealous of the maritime superiority of England, 
anxious to recover territories she had been forced to°yield 
to her, to avenge what, not without reason, she deemed 
piratical attacks upon her colonies and commerce, neither 
forgotten nor forgiven, though long submitted to, and es- 
pecially to expel heretic foreigners from that celebrated 
fortress on her own soil which they had so long held, to 
her shame and humiliation, — rejoiced at the disputes be- 
tween her hated rival and her North American colonies, 
and was ready to foment them, but not without misgivings 
and fears of effects that might endanger her dominion over 
her own dependencies. Hence her first effort was to effect 
by her mediation between the belligerents, which she 
offered, the independence of the North American colonies, 
witliout a formal acknowledgment of it, restricted to the 



352 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 

Alleghany as their western limit, and excluded from the 
fisheries,* and thus dwarfed not formidable. She proposed 
to England (France having accepted her offered mediation) 
a truce of three years and a congress of ambassadors of the 
belligerents (those of the United States, as an independent 
nation, included) at Madrid, to agree upon the conditions 
of a treaty of peace between them ; but her attempts to iDcr- 
suade the American Congress to yield to the hard terms she 
proposed, as the condition of her aid, and instruct their 
ministers to this proposed congress accordingly, failed. 
There were protracted negotiations upon this proposition, 
England evading an explicit reply to it, and covertly en- 
deavoring, as Spain complained, to treat separately with 
France and the United States. The cabinet of St. James 
was at last compelled to an explicit answer : the offered 
mediation was rejected, and it was declared the United 
States would under no circumstances be acknowledged by 
England as independent. Spain at once ended this diplo- 
matic farce (as this negotiation became before its close) by 
a declaration that she would seek redress of her wrongs by 
arms, and England issued letters of marque against Spanish 
ships and subjects. The people and government of Spain, 
I believe, never sympathized with the Americans, nor did 
his Most Christian Majesty nor his cabinet, while their cause 
was heartily espoused by all classes of men in Paris and the 
chief towns of France, by many of the nobility, and the 
officers of her navy and army, especially the younger of 
them, eager, as was to be expected from the chivalric spirit 
of their nation, to draw their swords for a noble people 
perilling all they held valuable to defend their liberty. If 
a prophet had whispered to the cabinets of Versailles and 
Madrid, "With your aid the Anglo-Americans will triumj^h, 
but in no long time after they take place among the nations, 
stimulated by their success. Frenchmen, rising in might 
irresistible, will bury in one common ruin their monarchy, 
their aristocracy, and their church, and the South American 
subjects of Spain throw off her iron yoke," not a livre nor a 
real would have been loaned or given, a ship equipped, nor 

* We cannot bat smile at the fatuity of their statesmen, who hoped 
to avert evils to France and Spain they saw to be prol)able, but not in 
their magnitude, by a few strokes of the pens of their diplomatists. 



OF GEORGE BEAD. 353 

a soldier embarked to aid the "thirteen colonies;" and if, 
this aid withheld, their subjugation had followed, still their 
independence and the revolutions of France and the colo- 
nies of Spain would have only been delayed : misgovernment 
would have continued to sow% as it had done for centuries, 
the seeds of revolution in France, and each year, as it 
passed over decrepit Spain, would have left her more imbe- 
cile than before, while commerce would more and more 
break through tlie restrictions she imposed upon trade and 
intercourse with foreigners, which, by occluding knowledge 
and improvement, maintained her despotic rule over regions 
the fairest and most fertile of the earth ; and the '' thirteen 
colonies" would have retained their knowledge, their cour- 
age, their energy, their enterprise, and their unconquerable 
love of liberty, with a vast field for expansion. 

Notable events in 1779 were the unsuccessful attack 
of D'Estaing and Lincoln upon Savannah, Sullivan's success- 
ful inroad upon the territory of the Six Nations of Indians, 
and the brilliant surprises of Stony Point and Powles 
Hook.'-' At the close of this year Washington withdrew 
his army from the field, establishing their winter quarters 
near Morristown, in New Jersey, disheartened indeed by 
the gloomy prospects in the Southern States, but still con- 
fident that success would at last reward the toils and sacri- 
fices of his countrymen for independence. 

No part of Mr. Read's correspondence and papers of the 
years 1780 and 1781 has come into my hands of impor- 
tance, except a writ summoning him to attend the Legisla- 
ture of Delaware, in 1780 (from which it appears he was a 
member of this body in that year), and the following let- 
ter of General Dickinson : 

" PniLADELPmA, 2Tth April, 1781. 

" Dear Sir, — T am much obliged to you for your friendly 
information. 

" Will not the recommendation of Congress be complied 
with by your Legislature ? Unless it is there w^ill l)e an end 
to all confidence betw^een man and man, and justice totally 
excluded from this western world. Why did your wise 
Legislature discriminate between former contracts made in 

* Diary of the American Revolution, vol. ii. p. 209. 



354 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 

specie and those made in their current money of equal value? 
I detest your retrospective laws, — they are full of injustice 
and oppression. 

"Pray endeavor, at 3'our next sessions, to rectify your 
past errors, — compel debtors, at least, to pay their interest 
annually in specie, or the value thereof, a.nd secure debts, 
according' to their real value, when contracted. This you 
may do since the Late recommendation of Congress, and it 
is your duty. 

" Mr. Morris, I make no doubt, will accept the Superin- 
tendence of Finance, as Congress have made advances. 

"It is believed the enemy intend a movement in your 
bay. If a French fleet is actually expected, which the know- 
ing ones say is the case, T think they will not venture ; 
General Washington is of opinion they will. Accounts 
from Europe [are] favorable : England cannot form alli- 
ances, Russia continues firm, and Holland is acting with 
spirit. 

" The town, at present, is totally engaged with Mr, 
M 's trial, — when it will end God knows. 

" My compliments to Mrs, Read, And believe me, dear 
sir, 

" Yours, very sincerely, 

" Philemon Dickinson, 

"George Read, Esquire." 

The winter of 1780 was intensely cold, and the American 
army was subjected to the greatest privations, which were 
borne with admirable patience : they were half clothed, ill fed, 
and, at times, on the verge of famine, the commissaries being 
without money and credit. With his army in this condition, 
Washington could not avail himself of the favorable oppor- 
tunity afforded, by the rivers and inlets of the ocean being 
bridged with ice, to attack New York, Charleston surren- 
dered to Sir Heniy Clinton, 12th May, 1780, The defence of 
this city was ill judged, and the consequence of its loss the 
apparent submission of South Carolina to the royal au- 
thority ; but it was only apparent. The British com- 
mander-in-chief soon by proclamation required her inhab- 
itants to take the oath of allegiance to their king, and 
render all service, military and civil, of good subjects. 
Then the South Carolinians, who had flattered themselves 



OF GEORGE READ. 355 

with the hope that neutrality would have been permitted 
to them, learned that the}^ must array themselves under 
the flag of their country or the banner of EngUmd ; and it 
was soon evident which would be their choice. In March 
the Maryland and Dehiware lines were ordered to South 
Carolina, under the command of De Kalb, and two hundred 
South Carolinians, who had retired to North Carolina aud 
Virginia, were emboldened by the prospect of this succor, 
and of aid from Virginia, to return, under Colonel Sumpter, 
and carry on a guerilla warfare, and their example was fol- 
lowed in other parts of the State. De Kalb was encamped, 
12th July, with about thirteen hundred soldiers, at Buffalo 
Ford, on Deep River, North Carolina, where he was joined 
by General Gates, appointed to command the Southern 
army, with the belief that " the conqueror of Burgoyne 
would be the savior of the Southern States." From this 
point, by a road through a barren country, injudiciously 
preferred to one through a region that would have afforded 
supplies, though longer, he marched his troops, who suf- 
fered much, to Clermont, in South Carolina, having been 
joined by the North Carolina troops, under Caswell, and 
the Virginia militia, under Stevens. Lord Cornwallis was 
posted at Camden, his effective force being about two thou- 
sand men ; Gates determined to advance to a favorable po- 
sition, about seven miles from that town, and on his march, 
soon after tw^o a.m., was encountered by Cornwallis, who, by 
a strange coincidence, at the hour Gates moved from Cler- 
mont had marched to attack him there. The battle which 
ensued terminated disastrously to the Americans, who were 
totally defeated, wdth great loss. Among the wounded and 
prisoners was the gallant De Kalb, who, though kindly 
treated, died soon after his capture, — having received eleven 
wounds, — expressing, with his dying breath, his gratitude 
to his Continental soldiers for keeping their ground, even 
when deserted by the militia, and his admiration of their 
courage, particularly that of the Delaware regiment. Gloom 
again enveloped the Southern States, where all seemed lost. 
General Washington still remained with the American 
army at Morristown, struggling against difficulties to which 
ordinary patriotism would have succumbed. The suffer- 
ings of the soldiers were now so great there w^as reason for 



356 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 

fear they no longer could bear them.* The radical defect 
in the administration of affairs was the substitution of the 
State for the national system. Before soldiers could be 
raised for a campaign, or provisions provided to feed, or 
money to pay them, requisition must be made upon thirteen 
legislatures, independent of each other, and they pass the 
necessary laws to meet them, and it was vain to expect from 
thirteen heads the unity, promptitude, and vigor of one. 
Congress should have been clothed with power to raise an 
adequate army for the war, and funds necessary for its prose- 
cution, in gold and silver, by taxation. This body met the 
evils, which menaced ruin, by resolves that the army should 
no longer be supplied by purchases of commissaries, but the 
States should furnish provisions, forage, and spirituous 
liquors, upon requisitions of Congress, specifying the ar- 
ticles to be supplied at places convenient; accounts to be 
opened with the several States and kept ; the articles fur- 
nished to be estimated in specie, and final settlements and 
payments of balances due, in Spanish dollars, promised. As 
soon as this new scheme was broached, Washington saw 
and forcibly presented its defects. Of the States, part might 
comply, others partially, and others not at all ; and there 
was the further provision that the States consenting to fur- 
nish their quotas might prohibit all purchases by Conti- 
nental officers, of provisions and forage, within their juris- 
dictions, — it followed, if they did so, and failed to send 
forward their promised quotas, the army might be starving 
and Congress without power to relieve it. In 1779 Con- 
gress resolved that the issue of Continental bills should not 
exceed two hundred millions of dollars. This amount was 
reached, and some new financial measure must be devised; 
it was this : ^the States were required to raise fifteen mil- 
lions of dollars by taxation, and, in payment of this tax, 
Continental bills were made receivable at the rate of forty 
paper dollars for one of silver, and in lieu of these bills, 
which were to be destroyed, and new ones were to be is- 
sued at the rate of one for every twenty of them. 

* Not long before officers had applied to "Washington for the coarse 
clothing of the common soldiers to replace their worn-out garments, 
and he could not furnish it ; and the pay of a major-general — so much 
were Continental bills depreciated — was less than the wages of an ex- 
press rider, and the subaltern's pay would not buy him his shoes. 



OF GEORGE READ. 357 

While these measures, which were experiments, were 
debated by thirteen legislatures, and their laws to give thein 
effect were tardily passed, months elapsed, the military 
chest remained empty, and the commander-in-chief looked 
in vain for the promised recruits. The discontent of the 
army attained a fearful height, and at last broke out, in 
two regiments of the Connecticut line, in open mutiny, 
which was, by strenuous efforts of their officers, (juelled. 
Previously the rations, never more than six da3's in ad- 
vance, failed entirely, and the commissaries reported that 
the}'^ had neither money nor credit. Nothing remained to 
Washington, unless he left his soldiers to starve, or disperse 
in quest of food, but to procure it himself by impressment. 
Before this last resort, he called upon the magistrates of 
New Jersey to furnish him the needed supplies, and, to the 
honor of this State, exhausted by having been so often the 
seat of war, his appeal to her patriotism was not in vain. 
Supplies were promptly furnished by her citizens. British 
emissaries had reported to General Knyphausen disaffection 
in the American army and discontent in New Jersey so 
extensive that he flattered himself if he marched his army 
there promptly, her citizens would promptly acknowledge the 
royal government and the soldiers of Washington desert 
their country's banner ; and accordingly, June Gth, he landed 
at Elizabethtown Point with five thousand men, and moved 
towards Springfield. Never was man more deceived than 
the German commander. The New Jersey militia turned 
out, upon the order of their governor, without delay, and, 
with parties of Continental troops, advanced for that pur- 
pose, annoyed the British, behaving with great courage. 
General Washington had posted his army advantageously 
in the rear of Springfield, and there awaited the enemy's 
attack ; who, disappointed in their expectations, after tar- 
nishing the honor of their country by laying waste the 
beautiful and highly-cultivated Connecticut farms, with- 
drew to Elizabethtown Point, and there awaited Sir Henry 
Clinton, who reinforced them, June 18th, with his troops 
from South Carolina, and took the command. Ilis object 
was the destruction of the stores at Morristown, and of the 
American army, which he hoped might risk a battle to 
protect them. Having conniiand of the water, he could 
choose his point of attack and move with great celerity to 



358 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 

it, while Washington could meet his attack, wherever made, 
by occupying such a position as to be able to advance in 
time to the point assailed. His doubt whether Morristown 
or West Point was Clinton's object was removed hy his 
marching, June 23d, upon the former. He was encountered, 
with great gallantry, by advanced parties of the Conti- 
nentals, under Green, detached with two thousand men to 
cover Springfield, the militia acting with them with alacrity 
and courage, while Green occupied a strong position near 
Springfield, to cover it. The British, by very great supe- 
riority of numbers, forced the American detachments, who 
disputed the ground with them as they advanced, to fall 
back upon Green, and he, being so numerically inferior, 
could not quit the heights he held ; they therefore took 
possession of Springfield, and, adding another to their atro- 
cious acts in Jersey, burnt it, and then retreated and passed 
to Staten Island, their commander having received intelli- 
gence of the promised succors from France, and unwilling, 
it was supposed, on that account, to risk the weakening of 
his army by the losses probable upon further operations. 
Lafixyette, so deservedly admired and loved . by every 
American, had, in 1779, on leave of absence from Congress, 
revisited France. There his reception was enthusiastic, for 
our cause was warmly espoused by his countrymen of all 
ranks, and the chivalrous character of his services in 
America had awakened the admiration of the generous, 
martial, and high-spirited Frenchmen. He was indefitiga- 
ble in advocating our cause with the French government; 
and such was his success that he returned in the spring of 
1780 to the United States w^ith the assurance that he would 
be speedily followed by a powerful French army and fleet. 
The effect was electrical upon the drowsy, divided, and 
hesitating Congress and State legislatures; it was felt that 
the moment was come, and must be improved, to terminate 
successfully the war for independence, and measures were 
adopted by both suited to that end. In July, the French 
fleet, commanded by De Ternay, with the first division of 
the promised army, under Rochambeau, arrived at Newport, 
Rhode Island. General Washington soon met the French 
general and admiral at Hartford, Connecticut, to arrange a 
joint attack of the French* and American forces upon the 
city of New York, which he had resolved on, upon the 



OF GEORGE READ. 359 

arrival of the second division of the French fleet and army. 
But while anxious eyes were strained to catch the first 
glimpse of this second division, whose advent was to give that 
naval superiority upon which future operations depended, 
the nation was astonished by the announcement of the 
treason of one of the bravest, most trusted, and popular of 
their generals. Such were the occurrences which defeated 
Arnold's dark plot, when almost consummated, that they 
were ascribed to Providence, even by men little disposed to 
admit divine interposition in human affairs. With the 
facts of this notable event all are familiar. Indignation and 
scorn are still our emotions when the traitor's name meets 
our eyes, with sorrow for the fate of the young, the brave, 
the accomplished, and amiable Andre, and we still entertain 
with deep interest the question was he justly sentenced and 
executed or not, because it involves the fame of Washington. 

Impartial men, even in England, have long ago, I believe, 
admitted, while they deplored, the justice of this sentence 
and the necessity for its execution. Washington's equa- 
nimity was not disturbed by the bad logic and poor verses 
of British writers, who denounced him as unjust in confirm- 
ing Andre's sentence, and as cruel in refusing him a soldier's 
death. Could his contemporaries have viewed Andre's case 
as dispassionately as men now view it, a monument would 
not, I think, have been decreed him in that august temple 
wdiere the most illustrious men of England sleep the sleep 
that knows no waking. 

The expected French fleet and troops (the second division) 
failed to arrive, and the contemplated attack upon New York 
was in consequence abandoned, and the campaign in the 
northern part of the United States terminated without further 
active operations. The armed neutrality and the declaration 
of war by England against Holland were remarkable events 
of 1780 abroad, which increased the hopes of the Americans 
that their cause would triumph : while Congress at last 
adopted two resolutions, long and vainly recommended by 
General Washington with overwhelming force of argument 
— the one for the enlistment of the army for the w^ar, and 
the other promising half pay to those officers who should 
serve till its termination. Bitter experience had opened 
the eyes of Congress to the evils of that system upon which 
the war was hitherto conducted, and to which they clung 
with marvellous obstinacy. 



360 I^IFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 

The British ministry and nation commenced the year 
1781 with the expectation that it was to be a year of bril- 
liant triumphs of their armies in America, to be crowned 
by the restoration of the royal government, — at least in the 
Southern colonies. There had been ignorance of the true 
state of affairs in America. Successes had been overmagni- 
fied, and the results of defeats underrated; but from the 
capture of Charleston and submission of South Carolina the 
conclusion was not rash nor unreasonable that the rebellion 
was almost extinguished in that colony and the territories 
adjacent to it. Hope, almost extinct, was revived in the 
disheartened Whigs by the defeat of the Loyalists in Oc- 
tober, 1780, at King's Mountain, and was increased when 
Gates, before the year closed, was superseded by Green in 
the command of the Southern army. Manifesting at the 
outset of our Revolutionary war great military talent and 
fondness for the vocation of the soldier, under circumstances 
that could not have produced or fostered them. Green, like 
the great painter West, is one of many examples of natural 
aptitude for one profession or pursuit above all others. The 
subsequent campaign, in which he displayed «o much genius, 
was a winter one, in a country sparsely inhabited, devas- 
tated by civil war, intersected by numerous rivers and 
streams, broad and deep, and sometimes rapid, over roads 
always bad, and sometimes impassable, his supplies — never 
abundant — obtained with difficult}^, his regulars a handful, 
his militia brave, but with o,ll the defects of that class of 
troops, and opposed to him a general of ability, vigor, and 
enterprise. The reader of the history of this campaign is 
surprised at the smallness of the contending armies. The 
English army was small because the delusive expectation 
was still entertained that the royalists were the majority, 
and that America would be conquered by Americans. The 
Whigs were elated by the brilliant success of Morgan at the 
Cowpens over Tarleton, whose cruelty was, nnhappily for 
his fame, as conspicuous as his ability and bravery. Then 
succeeded those marches and manoeuvres of the contending 
generals, in which they showed themselves worthy to com- 
mand. Green endeavored to cover the theatre of operations 
as far as possible from the enemy, to rouse and encourage 
his countrymen, and to avoid fighting at disadvantage. But 
in March (the 15th day), emboldened by the increase of his 



OF GEORGE BEAD. 3G1 

force, and aware that the militia — the chief part of it — 
could not be long retained, having been called out for short 
periods, Green sought the enemy and gave hiin battle at 
Guilford, and was defeated, the British, inferior in numbers, 
having been indebted for their success to the superiority of 
their disciplined over Green's undisciplined soldiers, the 
major portion of his arm}^ The British behaved with 
great bravery, and the Continental soldiers emulated and 
equalled them. Cornwallis kept the field, but his victory 
was barren of advantage, wdiile his loss of men was great 
and could not be repaired. So far from being able to follow 
up his success, he was unable to maintain his position, and 
forced to retreat to Wilmington, in North Carolina. Against 
that post, where the British vessels of war and army could 
co-operate, Green could not operate with any hope of suc- 
cess, and sagaciously and boldly he changed the seat of war 
to South Carolina. If Cornwallis followed him, he must 
abandon North Carolina to the Whigs; and if he did not. 
South Carolina and Georgia would be recovered by the 
American arms. Cornwallis determined to march into 
Virginia and unite his troops with the British armj^, which 
had landed in that State, under the traitor Arnold, and was 
commanded by General Phillips. Then succeeded the cam- 
paign in Virginia, in which, notwithstanding the skill and 
enterprise of Cornwallis, the "boy" Lafayette outmanoeuvred 
and eluded him. Washington, convinced that he would 
not be sufficiently reinforced in season to execute his long- 
formed and cherished plan of attacking New York, deter- 
mined to close the war, as he hoped, by the combined 
movement of the American and French armies against Lord 
Cornwallis. Having succeeded in deceiving Clinton into 
the belief that New York was his object, until it was too 
late for him to reinforce Cornwallis, Washington invested 
York by sea and land, in September, and it was surrendered, 
19th day of October, 178L General Green had in the mean 
time been carrying on operations in South Carolina against 
the British army, which was under the connnand of Lord 
Rawdon, until he was compelled by ill health to relinijuish 
it to Lieutenant-Colonel Stewart. The extent of country- 
occupied by the British exposed them to attacks at many 
points, and Green kept them in alarm by his activity. He 
lost the battle of Hobkirk Hill, was forced to raise the siege 

24 



362 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 

of" Ninety-Six," and gained the victory of Eutaw; and very 
so(ni afterwards the British confined themselves to the sea- 
coast, as if in despair of conquering the interior country. 
General Green's conduct of the campaign in the Southern 
States was above all praise, for the seat of war when he 
entered it was a conquered territory, its inhabitants, as 
Whigs and Tories, almost equally divided, and his Conti- 
nental troops, never over two thousand in number, were 
many of them raw and undisciplined ; yet such was his 
judgment, courage, and enterprise that he recovered the 
Southern States, 

With the surrender of the British army at Yorktown the 
contest by arms was terminated, though the war nominally 
continued. The year I am entering upon was one of ne- 
gotiation, but not without peril to America, from the selfish 
intrigues of France and Spain to limit the concessions Eng- 
land was willing to make, both as to the boundaries and 
fisheries. Mr. Read was again resident with his family in 
New Castle, with a large and increasing practice as a law- 
yer, to which he did not, however, give his undivided atten- 
tion, for he was still a member of the General Assembly of 
Delaware. 

He wrote to his friend Mr. Dickinson as follows from 

"New Castle, March 10th, 1Y82. 

" Sir, — I was truly sorry to be informed of your late 
indisposition, hy your favor of the 1st inst. I did not see 
Colonel Pope on his return from you, but shall use every 
opportunity to press a collection of the taxes, to enable him 
to comply with the contract for the armed vessel. What 
may be expected I will not venture to conjecture. If a few 
of the leading characters in our several counties were en- 
dued v.ith but a moderate share of public spirit, they might 
aid government oiucli, but a listlessness of conduct prevails 
too niuch among them. Time and example may amend 
the defect. 

"You hint the want of a secretary, whom you ought and 
must have constantly attendant upon you. The time has 
now come Avhen it is in your power to fix this appointment 
as you think fit. For my own part, I have it not in idea 
but that a person filling an office merely ministerial should 
so arrange that he may be ready at all seasonable times to 



OF GEORGE READ. 363 

perform the duties thereof. President McKinley, when he 
appointed the present secretary, did add the collector's 
oflfice to the appointment, the perquisites of which were not, 
and are not, by any means sufficient alone to induce any 
one fit or worthy of the trust to perform the duties of it. 
The Legislature have never taken up this business as they 
ought to have done, though heretofore privately complained 
of by President Rodney; but it ought to be done the first 
opportunity, and probably would upon your representation 
and a vacancy of the appointment. Your secretary de- 
livered your ' address' to the members of Assembly of this 
county, respecting the militia, to every of whom I trans- 
mitted a copy, and I have shown the original to such officers 
as I have since seen. 

" Mr. Sykes, the bearer of this, says he waits upon you 
in expectation of a reappointment to the ofiices he has held 
in Kent, and has more than once heretofore wished me to 
further his pretensions. My answer has been that it was a 
point of delicac}', and that each man's recommendation 
ought to be liis fitness and ability, and that with respect to 
him, from your long knowledge you were a competent 
judge of both ; and having said thus much as to a business 
which at all times past I have carefully avoided interfering 
in, I must beg your excuse. I suppose my early acquaint- 
ance with him, and some share of intimacy in consequence 
thereof, has induced him to press this upon me. I believe 
it is true that the ofiices for the past term have produced 
little or no profit, from the circumstances of times. 

" I shall have a pleasure in knowing that you are per- 
fectly restored to your health. I hope you will have it in 
your power, with convenience to Mrs. Dickinson and Miss 
Sally, to bring them on the intended tour to this place in 
the course of this month: our supreme courts begin on the 
second Tuesday in the next. Mrs. Read and our two 
Misses present their compliments, and I am, with much 
respect and esteem, 

"Your obedient servant, 

"George Read. 

" His Excellency John Dickinson." 

Mr. Dickinson thus wrote : 



364 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 

"May 15th, 1782. 

" Dear Sir, — I should be glad to know on what day you 
intend to set off from New Castle for the General Assembly. 
I expect to be timely enough if I call upon you on the last 
day of this month, or even the 2d of the next. Mrs. Dick- 
inson and Sally present their affectionate compliments to 
you, Mrs. Read, and the family. Please to present mine 
too. 

" I am, dear sir, your very affectionate 

"John Dickinson. 

" George Read, Esquire." 

The letter next inserted is unimportant, but brings Mr. 
Read before the reader, as he was at this time in the exten- 
sive practice of the law, and exhibits fairness, frankness, 
and comity, which no doubt Mr. Read reciprocated, and 
which then characterized, and I am happy to believe still 
characterize, gentlemen of the legal profession. Mr. Bas- 
sett, the writer of this letter, was a member of the United 
States Senate, as were his son-in-law, James A. Bayard, and 
two of the sons of that eminent statesman and lawyer, and 
now (1870) his grandson, the Hon. T. F. Bayard. I am 
not aware that any other family has furnished so many 
members of this body. 

" Sir, — I have had neither time nor opportunity since I 
received yours of the 27th of April to give you an answer, 
but hope the delay will occasion you no uneasiness or 
trouble. AVith respect to the cause of Campbell and Ed- 
wards, in your court, I must acknowledge your past indul- 
gence and favor. At the time I Engaged in that cause I 
then expected to have attended your court regularly, other- 
wise should not have been concerned ; but time and circum- 
stances have determined otherwise. My client still con- 
tends for the equitable circumstances heretofore mentioned 
to you ; therefore, as it is out of my power to attend your 
court at this term (being obliged to attend Caroline Court, 
adjourned for the purpose of clearing their docket), should 
be glad 3^our client would agree to a reference of the cause. 
I have no objection that Mr. George Ward, who is witness 
in the cause on the part of the plaintiff, should be one of 
the referees ; and if the circumstances turn out as mentioned 



OF GEORGE READ. 355 

in your letter, no doubt the report must be in fjxvorof your 
Ghent. It would seem to me your cHent, if he means fairly 
cannot object to this proposal. It is not my wish or desire 
to delay this business, but if Mr. Campbell will not consent 
to the above proposal, and you can consistently ao-ree that 
upon the general issue, with leave being entered on the 
docket, 1 may mquire into the consideration of the bond 
please to have it so entered when you go over your docket' 
and you may rely on it, if life and health permit, you shall 
have a hearing at August, or judgment; otherwise, in order 
to do my client justice, from his own story, I shall be under 
the necessity of filing a bill in chancery, as heretofore ob- 
served, which I most sincerely wish to avoid. Havino- thus 
said, I must leave the matter with you, to do or not°do as 
to you shall seem meet and right. We have had no court 
ot common pleas here to do business, on account of the 
small-pox in Dover. My client, Mr. Pearce, was up yester- 
day. 1 informed him of your state[ment] of the case He 
says your client has misinformed you, which he is able to 
make out by indubitable testimony. I proposed to him a 
relerence; to which he answered he would be perfectly satis- 
fied to leave it to any gentlemen in or near the Cross-Roads 
that were disinterested. Therefore, sir, if you please, if any 
opportunity offers, give your client this information shortly 
and if he is willing, let him so inform me, and I will 4t 
Mr. Pearce to come up again and put an end to this busi- 
ness at once. ^ I informed Mr. Tilghman, ao-reeably to your 
letter, respecting the cause of Allix's Lessee vs. Haines and 
J^oreman, and should have removed it if the court had set 
to do business. The court stands adjourned to the 2'^d of 
July next at which time, unless your orders are counter- 
manded, I shall not fail to remove it. My compliments to 
Mrs. Kead and ftxmily. 

" I am, sir, your humble servant, 
"May IGth, 1782." " Richahd Bassett. 

Mr. Read considered it expedient that his son George* 

of Iht DkTrin.'nVn' ;''''' '^ ^^^^ ^^^^''^^'^ ^ar and ^^^7^78^1^^ 
he holr il f ^^^^".'r^'"'"''' ^.l'PO'»tccl by Washington, and which office 
he held till he Pre^sidency of James Monroe, when ho resio-ned it and 
was succeeded by his son, distinguished as a lawyer and speaker 



366 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 

should study the law in Philadelphia, and desired to place 
him in the family and office of James Wilson, a signer of 
the Declaration of Independence and Judge of the Supreme 
Court of the United States, and requested that he might be 
so received. Mr. Wilson communicated his decision upon 
Mr. Read's request as follows : 

"Dear Sir, — I have been favored with your letter by 
your son. Mrs. Wilson and I feel a strong inclination to 
gratify you by receiving him as one of the family ; but we 
have been so often obliged to refuse pressing instances of 
this kind that we cannot, with any degree of propriety, 
comply with your request. If your son can find it con- 
venient to lodge in any other place, I will with pleasure 
receive him into my office, though I have lately declined 
some applications of the same nature. The fee is one hun- 
dred guineas. 

" Mrs. Wilson has been so much indisposed since your son 
came to town that «he has not had the pleasure of seeing 
him. She begs her best compliments to Mrs. Read. Please 
to add mine. 

" I am, with much esteem, dear sir, your obedient, hum- 
ble servant, 

"James Wilson. 

"Philadelphia, 7th May, 1782." 

President Dickinson wrote again to Mr. Read as follows, 
upon the subject, principally, of the meeting of the Legis- 
lature of Delaware, about which he was anxious : 

"Dear Sir, — I have written to the Secretary to make out 
commissions to Mr. Kollock for the two offices he now 
holds. 

" I am informed that there is some apprehension that the 
General Assembly will not meet, on account of the small- 
pox being in Dover. I shall be very sorry if this happens 
to be the case, and therefore I send a letter by Mr. Kollock 
to the Speaker of the House of Assembly, desiring them to 
meet, if it is only to adjourn to some more convenient place, 
as the present situation of public affiiirs absolutely requires 
a session. I shall be obliged to you if you will please to 
favor me with your opinion resjjecting my power to convene 
the Legislature after the time to which they stand ad- 



OF GEORGE READ. 367 

journed, and at a place different from that to which they 
stood last adjourned, if there should be a failure of meeting 
at such time and place. Please to inform me, too, if any 
law of the State has touched upon this subject. I should 
suppose, in the case stated, and the public welfare requiring 
a meeting, it might be proper, at least on an application 
from a majority of each House, to call the Legislature 
together. 

'•' I am exceedingly happy to inform you that the news 
by which we have been lately distressed, of the French 
fleet being defeated by the British, is so directly and au- 
thentically contradicted that the first intelligence is utterly 
discredited here. I believe you may depend upon it that 
our enemies were as much hurt as our friends, and that the 
latter are proceeding in their enterprise against Jamaica, 
which will probably fall into their hands. 

" We have advices, which are thought credible, that the 
island of Providence has submitted, — the fortifications and 
houses destroyed, and all the inhabitants removed. 

" There is some reason to think that a squadron of six 
line-of-battle ships and some frigates of our good ally will 
soon be on our coast. 

"Mrs. Dickinson and Sally present their affectionate 
compliments to your f\imily. Be pleased to add mine. 

" I am, sir, your sincere friend and very humble servant, 

"John Dickinson. 

"May 24th, 1782. 

"Captain Barry is arrived in the Alliance, at New Lon- 
don. The Marquis de Lafayette is coming in a vessel that 
will protect him from the whole force in our bay. 

" George Read, Esquire." 

The report of the defeat of De Grasse, mentioned by Mr. 
Dickinson in his foregoing letter, was premature, and tlie 
indecisive battle of which authentic intelligence had ar- 
rived, was that of April 9th. De Grasse, however, before 
the date of Mr. Dickinson's letter, had been defeated totally 
by Roduej', April r2th, and it seems, as has often happened, 
the coming disaster cast its shadow before. 

Mr. Dickinson again wrote to Mr. Read upon the chief 
subject of his last letter : 



368 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 

"May 31st, 1182. 

" Dear Sir, — I am much obliged to you for your letter 
by Mr. Carman. I entreat you to use all your influence to 
procure a meeting as soon as possible, at Dover, if the 
members only come together for five minutes, for making an 
adjournment to some other jDlace. A session is more neces- 
sary than I can express. 

"I am, engaged here in business of importance to the 
State, and shall wait till I receive intelligence, which I beg 
you to assist in conveying to me, that the Houses are met 
or will certainly meet at a particular day. 

"' I am, sir, your most affectionate, humble servant, 

"JoiJN" Dickinson. 

" George Read, Esquire." 

The delinquencies of the sheriffs of New Castle County, 
mentioned in the following letter of Mr. Read, may have 
been produced by the embarrassed condition of business, 
from the depreciated currency and other causes : 

"New Castle, Itth September, 1182. 

" Sir, — I received yours, inclosing two bonds of Mr. 
Norris's upon which execution had been issued, — that of 
Duff's to John Thompson, then sheriff, to whom I delivered 
a state[ment] of principal and interest, with a request of a 
speedy settlement thereof, — this being at our last court, — 
I got no answer since. The other, of See's, had issued to 
John Clark, since dead, and for the settlement of this busi- 
ness there is none other than his administrators, a w^idow 
and brother, very incapable thereof. I applied to the under- 
sheriff who was then in office, who, upon inquiry, since 
says that See had sold his effects and was moving off; but, 
meeting some of the purchasers who had not paid him, he 
gave them notice of the late sheriff's claim on the goods ; 
he knows not what it may produce. I have a number of 
executions yet unsettled with Sheriffs Duff, who Avent out 
of office in 1772; Thompson, in 1775; Clark, in 1779; and 
the present Smith, whose time ends at the ensuing election ; 
and I have found it hitherto impracticable to get anything 
done. I will do what I can on the part of Mr. Norris, but 
I suspect it will not be speedily accomplished. 

" I think you told me once that you could procure me a 



OF GEORGE READ. 369 

' Collection of the Several Systems or Forms of Government 
adopted b}^ the American States ' I believe Congress had 
them printed and l)Ound. (I take the liberty of reminding 
you of this.)''' 

" Miss Jones and my daughter beg their compliments to 
your lady and Miss Sally, Mrs. Read will present her own 
in the com^se of this week, as she sets out from honce this 
day, with Parson Thompson, of Maryland, for Philadelphia. 
And I am, with much esteem and respect, your most obe- 
dient servant, 

" George Read. 

" His Excellency John Dickinson, 

" President of tlie Delaware State." 

The cloud which rested, for a time, on the able vindica- 
tor of American rights in the celebrated " Farmers' Letters," 
was now lifted, to the surprise and mortification of his 
enemies, and the joy of his friends. Mr. Wharton, in com- 
municating, and Mr. Read, in receiving, by the following 
letter, intelligence of John Dickinson's election to the su- 
preme magistracy of Pennsylvania, shared this joy, and 
probably felt it more than others, because their friendship 
for him, and of each of them all for the others, through their 
youth, manhood, and old age was unusually strong and 
w^arm, as is shown by their correspondence. 

"Philadelphia, NoveDiber 10th, 1782. 

" Dear Sir, — By Mr. Grantham I send you a bundle of 
newspapers, besides what is contained in this letter. By those 
of the later date you will perceive the alarm sounded, through 
these vehicles of abuse, against our old friend. But, to the 
keen mortification of the opposing party, he was elected Presi- 
dent and General Ewing Vice-President, — a worthy and 
intimate friend of Mr. Dickinson, — versus General Potter. 



* I have in my possession a small volume of 226 pages, entitled 
"The Constitutions of the Several Independent States of America, the 
Declaration of Independence, the Articles of Confederation between 
the said States, and the Treaties between his Most Christian Majesty 
and the United States of America. Published by order of Congress. 
Philadelphia: printed by Francis Bailey, in Market Street. 1781." 
On the title-page of this volume is written, "John Dickinson to his 
friend George Read, Esquire." 



370 LIFE AND GORRESPONDENGE 

I never have known so general a joy diffused among all ranks 
of the people as was exhibited on this choice of our early asso- 
ciate. The procession from the State [House] to the Court- 
house was very numerous and respectable, and there the 
people manifested their felicity by affectionate and repeated 
acclamations. The gentlemen who opposed Mr. Dickinson 
are low-spirited, and are afraid something effectual will be 
done to establish his reputation and that of the present As- 
sembly. Your former neighbor was deep in the politics 
[of this opposition], but has a certain versatility about him 
that accommodates [him] to the powers in being. He asked 
your other old friend to accompany him, after the proces- 
sion was over, to Mr. D 's, for the purpose of congratu- 
lating him [on his election], etc.; and crowds of other 
citizens are daily doing the same. What will be done by 
the State of Delaware in respect of their President I am 
ignorant of, but he tells me we shall see in the next news- 
papers what he said to the Assembly here in relation to 
this matter,'^' 

" Congress has ordered Captain Asgill to be liberated.f 
This was done in consequence of letters from General 
Washington, by which it was obvious this was his wish, 
and from a letter he received from Count de Vergennes, 
expressing an earnest desire from the king and queen of 
France, who had been prevailed upon to intercede in be- 
half of Captain Asgill. 

'' The mother of this gentleman wrote to the Count de 
Vergennes one of the most pathetic letters I ever read. 
Although Congress has freed Asgill from his confinement, yet 
they have instructed the commander-in-chief to inform Sir 
Guy Carlton, in the most pointed terms, that they rely upon 
his promise of making strict inquisition after the murderer 
of Captain Huddy ; and, in order to prevent all further ap- 
plications to them from any persons, they have resolved 
that, in case the enemy shall commit any actions contrary 
to the law of nations, the commander-in-chief, or the gen- 
eral who may command in the Southern department, after 
retribution has been demanded by them or either of them, 



* He was President of Delaware when elected to the Presidency of 
Pennsylvania. 

t Writings of Washington, vol. viii. pp. 303-305, 361, 3G2. 



OF GEORGE READ. 371 

and justice refused or delayed beyond the time limited in 
their requisition, shall have authority to execute retali- 
ation. This will make the enemy very cautious in their 
future proceedings, and there will not be reliance, as here- 
tofore, upon the various opinions of a large deliberative 
body. 

" No news from Europe, since I wrote you last, except 
what you w^ill find in the within papers, under the New 
York head, upon which we place no dependence. The 
siege of Gibraltar, and the expected conflict between the 
British and combined fleets, engrosses all our attention ; if 
the event should be favorable to the two branches of the 
House of Bourbon, or the English should be much worsted in 
the East Indies, a general pacification will most probably take 
place next spring or summer. Count Rochambeau's army (I 
mention this in confidence, — not to be repeated) will, we 
have reason to think, embark for the West Indies. As to 
South Carolina we can say nothing, as Congress has received 
no late letters from thence ; but it is alleged that part of 
the garrison of Charleston has embarked, etc. — see the last 
newspaper. I have not yet received the law you wrote for; 
President Boudinot has again written to the printer for it. 
I wait for the index of 1779, which is not yet finished, other- 
wise I would send you a complete set of the Journals of 
Congress. Will you wait for the index, or shall I despatch 
the Journals without it? You can exchange the volume 
of 1779 for one, when it is printed, with the index. Mrs. 
Wharton is getting better; she and my children join me in 
affectionate regards to Mrs. Read, yourself, and children. 
Adieu. 

" Yours, very sincerely, 

"S. Wharton. 

" Honorable George Read, New Castle, Delaware." 

The writer of the graceful and sprightly letter which 
follows next was the wife of Captain Thomas Read, and 
w^idow of Mr. Field, of New Jersey ; her daughter by him 
was the wife of the eminent lawyer and United States 
Senator from New Jersey, Richard Stockton. When a 
youth, at Princeton College, I received a good deal of notice 
from her, confined as she was, by the infirmities of age, to 



372 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 

her chamber in Mr. Stockton's house, where she resided. 
She was a lady of great intelligence, and an intimate friend 
of President Samuel Stanhope Smith. 

'•' My dear Sir, — After having been honored with your 
several favors, and distinguished by your friendly polite- 
ness, I blush at the idea of having so long neglected 
assuming my pen to acknowledge the receipt of them. I 
am fearful I have subjected myself, in your opinion, to the 
censure of insensibility and ingratitude, of which, I grant, 
you had too much reason to suspect me, though I hope 
they are both strangers to my heart. An habitual negli- 
gence, which I have indulged for some time past, and which 
has gained such an ascendency over me as to be almost 
constitutional, is the poor excuse I have to offer for having 
till this day deferred assuring my dear Mr. Read that I feel 
myself impressed with sentiments of the highest respect 
and esteem for him, and that, great as my disappointment 
is in not seeing him and Mrs. Read in Philadelphia, I find 
my concern increased by the cause — your attachment to 
New Castle — as I am apprehensive this fondness will in- 
crease with your years, and destroy all hope of our seeing 
you here ; but, be it as it may, you may depend my best 
wishes, however inefficacious they may be, will ever attend 
you. With my love to Mrs. Read, and your fireside, 
believe me to be, dear sir, 

"Yours, with affection, 

"M. Read. 

"Philadelphia, November 10th, 1782. 

"George Read, Esquire." 

Mr. Dickinson, resident in Philadelphia, though President 
of Delaware, commends to Mr. Read's good offices the 
French officer, bearer of his letter written from that city. 

"November 22d, 1782. 

"' Sir, — This letter will be delivered to you by a gentleman 
who is called, I think, Mr. Colls. His post in the French 
army resembles that of quartermaster-general in our ser- 
vice. His business in the Delaware State is to make proper 
arrangements for the reception of the Duke de la Lauzune's 
Legion at Wilmington, where they are to winter. 



OF GEORGE READ. 373 

" I beg leave to recommend the gentleman and the alTiiir 
to you, sir, in the strongest sense, and hope he will receive 
from every person that assistance wliich, from every con- 
sideration, there must be pleasure in rendering. 

"I am, with great esteem, sir, your most obedient and 
humble servant, 

"John Dickinson. 

"Honorable George Read, Esquire." 

The style of Mr. Dickinson's letters is felicitous, — always 
easy, elegant, and unstudied, — it is often graceful and 
sprightly. Judging him by his letters, he was earnest, very 
affectionate, and generous, but of nice sensibility, over- 
anxious, and sometimes timid. 

Mr. S. Wharton wrote to Mr. Read as follows, from 



=j 



" PmLADELPHiA, ITth November, 1782. 

"Dear Sir, — I wrote you a few days ago, but, as the Chief 
Justice is going to New Castle, it affords me an opportunity 
of conveying the latest public papers. 

"News we have little that can be relied upon, except a 
person is come from General Green's camp, and says that 
the 10th of November was publicly fixed for the total 
evacuation of Charleston. Part of the stores, and some 
part of the garrison, and some of the inhabitants are sailed 
for St. Augustine. All the British, he asserts, are to go to 
New York, and the Hessians to Nova Scotia. 

"It is said a vessel, arrived after a short passage from 
Jamaica, came to anchor at Sand}^ Hook, and the captain 
proceeded to New York. Immediately Sir Guy Carleton 
and Admiral Digby called a council of war, wliich lasted 
nine hours, and then the captain of the vessel returned to 
it, and she immediately sailed. Some say that she went to 
the British fleet cruising near Gardner's Island, with orders 
for it to proceed immediately to Jamaica, as the governor 
of that island was very apprehensive of an immediate 
attack from a large force of French and Spaniards. This, 
I apprehend, is all conjecture, for I think the French and 
Spaniards would not diminish their European fleet until 
the fate of Gibraltar was decided. Indeed, it is alleged, 
but, I believe, without any the least probability, that it had 
surrendered to the besiegers. It is also asserted, upon better 



374 LIFE AND COBRESPONDENGE 

foundation, that Lord Howe had not departed from England, 
the 27th of September; if so, it affords some grounds to 
suppose that the garrison of Gibraltar could not long resist 
the very powerful attack of the French and Spanish army 
by sea and land. 

" The settlers to the westward of the Alleghany Mount- 
ain have declared that the country within that space is 
independent of Pennsylvania, and they are fast settling 
the lands westward of the river Ohio. This important 
circumstance was communicated to Congress and the Gov- 
ernment of Pennsylvania on Friday last, and the Council 
and Assembly of this State, and [they will] have a con- 
ference upon this intelligence to-morrow. Many, of both 
bodies, are of opinion that this State would be large enough 
if it was confined to the Alleghany Mountain, and it would 
be wisdom to acquiesce in the proposition of an independent 
State, if it was founded upon the admission of the rights of 
such as have just claim. Congress could now decide the 
measures of the new government; but, if the affair is 
neglected for any length of time, it will be as unmanageable 
as that of Vermont, which has been and will be fruitful of 
much vexation to the National Council. 

"Our friend, the President of this State, is extremely de- 
sirous of having an interview with you, and therefore has 
desired me to write to you and know whether you would 
be so obliging as to give him a meeting at Chester, some 
day, in about a fortnight or a few days later, as he wishes 
much to talk to you upon some important matters. He 
proposes to stay only one night at Chester, and the next 
day to return, in order that you maj^ not be detained 
longer than one night from your family. I must desire you 
to do me the favor of giving me an answer, by Mr. McKean, 
to this request, and that you would fix the day of meeting, 
and place, if any should be more agreeable to you than 
Chester, — somewhere not far from it, — in this State. 

" My wife and children desire to be affectionately remem- 
bered to Mrs. Read, and your children. 

" I am, most sincerely, your faithful friend, 

"Samuel Wharton. 

" Honorable George Read, Esquire." 

In the midst of the engagements of his laborious profes- 
sion, Mr. Read was startled, by the communication to him 



OF GEORGE READ 375 

in the letter below, of the wish of his friends in the Conti- 
nental Congress to nominate him for a high jndicial office, 
then vacant, and to be immediately filled by that body. 

" PiiiLADELPniA, 27th Xovember, 1782. 

"Dear Brother, — Mr. Thomas Fitsimmons, who is in 
Congress from this State, informed me last evening that two 
judges in the Court of Ai)peals in admiralty cases are shortly 
to be appointed, and that, in conversations at which he had 
been present, you were mentioned by several members as 
one of the persons they would wish to have in that office ; 
but as no gentleman could take the liberty of proposing 
you publicly without knowing that it would have your ap- 
probation, lie desired I would acquaint you of the matter, 
and request that I might be authorized to deliver your 
sentiments respecting it. He said it seemed to be generally 
agreed that the Eastern States should furnish one of the 
judges, and the Middle States the other; and he had every 
reason to believe you would be adopted for the latter, if 
agreeable to you. lie also bid me assure you that your 
name would not be committed without a moral certainty of 
being accepted. The salary is six hundred pounds per 
annum, and he said it would not require above six or eight 
weeks at most in the year to perform all the duties. There 
are three stated sessions annually, — viz., one at Hartford, 
Connecticut, and at this place, and one in Virginia; but it is 
very seldom there is business to occasion all these meetings. 
He said many members had expressed a strong desire that 
it might meet your approbation. I must confess I wish it, 
from motives that regard your health, which I believe 
would be much benefited by the exercise [holding this 
office] would occasion. 

" 1 know of no news here at present. Mrs. Read is very 
anxious about our brother Thomas. We can have nothing 
concerning him on which any dependence ought to be 
placed since the account of his capture. My apprehensions 
are that he was taken by a frigate, bound either to the 
West Indies or Europe ; in either of which cases it may be 
a considerable time before we hear from hiin. 

" I remain your truly affectionate brother, 

"James Read. 

"To George Read, Esquire." 



376 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 

To this letter Mr. Read replied promptly, yet after the 
careful consideration of the question it presented, which the 
importance of its right decision to himself and his family 
demanded, and with his characteristic caution. 

"New Castle, 28th November, 1782. 

" Dear James, — I received yours of yesterday, mention- 
ing Mr. T. Fitsimmons's conversation with you on the va- 
cancy in the Court of Appeals in admiralty cases, and his 
wish to know whether I approved of the proposition of him 
and some other members of Congress to put me in nomina- 
tion to fill a vacancy there. I consider myself much obliged 
to that gentleman and those members of Congress for their 
favorable opinion of my integrity and abilities, so far as to 
suppose them equal to this discharge of such a trust, being 
conscious myself of a want in that species of law knowledge, 
presently, which might be immediately necessary to be ex- 
ercised in case the proposed nomination should succeed : I 
have doubts whether I might not disgrace their choice. 
However, previous to any assent on my part, it would be 
necessary for me to know what changes in my situation and 
present business must necessarily follow the appointment, 
if made, as I take it for granted that Congress would expect 
that their Judge of Appeals would not prosecute the busi- 
ness of an attorney in any one of the States, and perhaps 
not that of a counsel in the common-law courts. If these 
are both to be laid aside, I am apprehensive that the salary 
of six hundred pounds per annum would not do for me, 
whose property has been amazingly diminished since the 
commencement of the American troubles. The necessary 
travelling expenses would sink a third of this sum annually,, 
for if fixed for the Middle Department, it would fall to my 
lot to attend at each stated session in the Eastern, Middle, 
and Southern Department; as, for instance, the Eastern 
judge would readily find an excuse for not serving in Vir- 
ginia, and so the Southern judge in Connecticut; and their 
attendance in the Middle district might be settled by them 
in turns : this supposing their residence where Congress sits 
is not required, which is also material for me to know. Was 
my fortune su^li as would admit of my providing for my 
family in a very moderate manner, without further addition 
thereto, I should not make a question of this sort; but it is 



OF GEORGE READ. 377 

clearly otherwise; and therefore, as 1 have sacrificed much 
time and money for seven years past, my duty to my fiimily 
requires that I should give some attention to their interest; 
and I am persuaded that those gentlemen who have been 
pleased to think of me for one of the vacancies in the Court 
of Appeals would not censure this attention. My views 
and expectations are small and confined. I can with safe^ 
say that neither avarice nor ambition have taken much root 
in my breast, but those whom I have been the occasion of 
[their] coming into the world I must provide for. These 
things I have thrown out rather suddenly, as a favorable 
opportunity now offers to send this which might not happen 
for many days to come. Therefore I must beg the favor of 
you to make every inquiry relative to this ofiice I suggest 
herein, and, if practicable, send me an account thereof 
before you give my final answer and resolution to Mr. Fit- 
simmons : [1st] Where my residence must or may be. 
[2d] The present judge [in the Southern Department], his 
name and public character. [3d] Who is thought of for 
the Eastern Department, and his character as to integrity 
and abilities — with such only would I wish to act. [-Ith] 
Out of what fund is the annual salary payable, and the 
competency of this fund. [5th] If travelling charges are 
allowed. [6th] Whether the office is considered as incom- 
j^atible with other offices or business except that of member 
of Congress. [7th] Whether the establishment of this 
court does or not end with the war ; if ii does, this will be 
an unanswerable objection to acceptance. 

" I am, affectionately yours, 

•'George Read." 

To this letter he received the following reply : 

"Philadelphia, 3d September, 1782. 

" Dear Brother, — T received your letter inclosing one for 
Governor Dickinson, which I immediately delivered, and 
waited on him the next morning with that written to me. 
I saw him this morning, when he told me that after con- 
sulting some friends on the subject of the letters, they had 
determined you should be put in nomination, and that he 
would see you on Saturday next. After I parted from the 
governor 1 met Mr. S. Wharton, who told me the nomina- 

25 



378 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 

tion waf^ made yesterday, in consequence of some conversa-- 
tion had with Mr. Dickinson, who showed them your let- 
ters ; that your friends have no doubt but you will be chosen 
(with himself it amounts to a certainty) ; and the choice is 
to be made on Thursday. He intends to see you on Satur- 
day with the governor. These gentlemen will be able to 
inform you of the event ; therefore I must refer you to them 
for further particulars. 

"I am told the judges are paid as part of the civil list; 
all which, I am told, receive pretty regular quarterly pay- 
ments. You will have heard that our brother Thomas has 
got home, having called at our mother's on his way. We 
are all well at present, and send our love to you and yours. 
''I remain, yours very affectionately, 

"James Read. 

" To George Read, Esquire." 

In accordance with the expectation of his friends, Mr. 
Read was chosen by the Continental Congress one of the 
judges of the Court of Appeals in admiralty cases, established 
by Congress, under the ninth article of the Confederation, on 
the 5th day of December. This appointment was announced 
in the most gratifying manner by Mr. Boudinot, the then 
President of the Continental Congress, in his letter dated 

"Philadelphia, 6tb December, 1T82, 

" Sir, — It gives me very particular satisfaction to have 
the honor of presenting you the commission of the United 
States, in Congress assembled, whereby you are constituted 
one of the Judges of the Court of Appeals in all cases of 
capture on the water, etc. 

"Your established character as a gentleman, a lawyer, 
and man of integrity, leaves me no room to doubt but this 
appointment will do honor to Congress, produce the happi- 
est consequences to the good citizens of these States, and, 
I hope, real satisfaction to yourself, from the consciousness 
of serving your country with fidelity. 

" I have the honor to be, with every sentiment of esteem 
and respect, sir, 

"Your most obedient and humble servant, 

" Elias Boudinot. 

"The Honorable George Read, Esquire, New Castle, Dela- 
ware." 



OF GEORGE READ. 379 

Mr. Read's acceptance of this appointment was commu- 
nicated to Mr. Boudinot in the following letter : 

"New Castle, 10th December, 1782. 

" Sir, — I had the honor to receive your Excellency's letter 
of the 6th instant, inclosing, under its cover, a commission 
to me from the United States of America, in Congress as- 
sembled, for a judge's place in their Court of Appeals. This 
unlooked-for mark of confidence from that very honorable 
body impresses me with the strongest sense of gratitude, 
and I can only say that, under this impression, I accept of 
this appointment with the fullest intention to discharge the 
duties thereof to the best of my poor abilities, and, I hope, 
with an integrity that may become the station. I am per- 
suaded that in doing so I shall make the best return in my 
power for the honor conferred, and the trust reposed in me 
by the Great Council of America. 

" I beg leave to return your Excellency my particular 
thanks for the very flattering and polite manner in which 
you have been pleased to communicate to me this appoint- 
ment. 

"I have the honor to be, with great respect, your Excel- 
lency's most obedient and very humble servant, 

"George Read.* 

"His Excellency Elias Boudinot, Esquire, President of 
Congress." 

The delegates from Delaware in 1782 were Thomas 
McKean, Philemon Dickinson, Caesar Rodney, and Samuel 
Wharton, and all, except Mr. Rodney, being citizens of 
Pennsylvania, their appointment was stigmatized as sub- 
serviency to that State ; but as I find this charge in a fac- 
tious and libellous pamphlet, in which Mr. Read and the 
party with which its writer identifies him, is acrimoniously 
assailed, I reject it as unworthy of credence. f 

* See Appendix B. 

f y\Y. Madison alleged another cause for this and like appointments. 

"He reminded the Convention of another consequence of leaving 
upon a small State the burden of niaintaiuing a representation in Con- 
gress. During a considerable period of the war, one of the repre- 
sentatives of Delaware (in whom alone, before the signing of the Con- 
federation, was the entire vote of that State, and after tliat event oue- 
half of its vote frequently) was a citizen and resident of Pennsylvania 



380 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 

The vote in the British House of Commons against the 
further prosecution of the war in America, and "Address" 
to the crown in conformity with it, and the state of the 
American army, from the financial embarrassment of the 
country, relieved it from active military operations, but 
not without fear that they might be renewed, as the repug- 
nance of the British sovereign to the dismemberment of his 
empire was undiminished, and the great victory of Rodney 
might embolden the ministry to renew the war. The pleni- 
potentiaries of the United States concluded, 30th Novem- 
l3er, 1782, a treaty with England, which, with the recogni- 
tion of their independence, secured, as to the fisheries and 
boundaries, — defeating the selfish intrigues of France and 
Spain, — enough to satisfy their just and reasonable expec- 
tations. Though this treaty was not to take effect till 
peace was declared between England, France, and Spain, 
yet none could doubt, at the close of 1782, that independ- 
ence was achieved, — the noble object for which so much 
blood, and money, and toil had been expended, and so 
much wisdom, self-sacrifice, courage, and patience mani- 
fested, though it ought not to be denied that there were 
dark periods when patriotism quailed under the drafts that 
were made upon it; ambition, self-seeking, and faction were 
rampant, and the wisest and best citizens were no longer 
found within the hall of that once august body, — the Con- 
tinental Congress. 

In 1783 Mr. Read not only recovered the clients he had 
lost, by his attendance upon Congress, but added to them ; 
and he was still a member of the Delaware Legislature. 

The following letter communicated the joyful news of the 
general peace : 

"Philadelphia, March 24th, 1Y83. 

"Dear Sir, — I do myself the honor to inclose you a 
hand-bill, containing the most agreeable intelligence of the 
signature of the general preliminaries of peace. 

who held an office in his own State incompatible with an appointment 
from it to Congress. During another period the same State was repre- 
sented by three delegates, two of whom were citizens of Pennsylvania 
and the third a citizen of New Jersey. These expedients must have 
been intended to avoid the burden of supporting delegates from their 
own State."— Z)fc'6a/es in the Federal Concenlion. — 3Iadi^on PaiMva, 
vol. ii. p. 901. 



OF GEORGE READ. 



We have to thank the Marquis Lafayette for the early 
information who obtained leave that the sloop of war 
called the Triampl, should touch here, though but the sec- 
ondary purpose of her voyage. 

"I most sincerely congratulate you upon the happy pros- 
pect of public liberty and independence. 

" The Superintendent of iMarine is directed to call in all 
our cruisers, and despatches are sent to New York, inform- 
ing feir Guy- and Digby of the news, that they may take 
the necessary steps on their side. 

" I am, with great regard, your obedient and very hum- 
ble servant, "^ 

"Gunning Bedford, Junior."f 

Mr. Read, unless for cogent reasons, could not, I think 
have resisted the kind urgency of his friend John Dickin- 
son s request, made in his next letter: 

" Dear Sir,— Mr. McKean tells me this evening that you 
intend to be in town to-morrow or Wednesday week I beo- 
that you will bring up Mrs. Read with you, if she can sta? 
but a short tune, and make my house your home We 
have a room at your service, and lam authorized to say you 
will make Mrs. Dickinson and me very happy [by coming 
to us]. The journey will be of benefit to Mrs Read, and I 
beg that good lady to consider that there is real difference 
between things impossible and things difficult. I know a 
mu titu( e of objections may be made,— the boys may grow 
quite wdd in the absence of both of you, or the servants 
may turn the house out at the windows, or the garden be- 
come a desert, or the cows be neglected, or a plurality of 
inconveniences may be apprehended. But confide in your ' 
fortune; engage the friendly assistance of your worthy 
brother and neighbor, and give particular directions to my 
good friend Juba, and I'll be bound afhiirs will run on very 
cleverly. -^ 

" Mrs. Dickinson and Sally present their most respectful 
comp iments to you, Mrs. Read, and the family, and I de- 
sire that mine also may be accepted. 



* Carleton. 



t The (Ick-i^atos in Con-ross, a.d. 1783, were Cffisar Rodney, James 
lilton, Lleaz.r McComb, and Guunin- Bedford, Junior. 



382 I^IFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 

"I am, dear sir, ever aflfectionately your very humble 
servant, 

"John Dickinson. 
"April 6th, 1783. 
"George Read, Esquire." 

Called to Dover by a session of the Legislature, Mr. Read 
wrote to his wife from that place. 

"June 11th, 1783. 

" My dear G — ' — , This public business of ours goes on 
so slowly that I have my apprehensions of being detained 
here part of the next week, unless much of what is under 
consideration should be left unfinished. I could wish to 
have a few weeks of entire relaxation from business, being 
persuaded that 1 shall not recover that depression of the 
spirits which has attended my habit since my sickness in 
Philadelphia, for though I have been free from any pains, 
yet I continue in a very relaxed state. Having the mind 
perfectly freed from regular thinking, and some seasonable 
exercise, I am persuaded would afford the relief I want, 
but this cannot be for more than a fortnight to come. The 
Court of Oyer and Terminer is fixed for Monday week at 
New Castle, said the Chief Justice last evening, and the 
business thereof will take up that week. The elder David 
Hall is dead, and his offices of prothonotary and clerk of 
the peace are solicited for by his son, the doctor, and Harry 
Neil. I have not heard of any other appliers as yet. 
There will be no determination of the person till the Presi- 
dent's return, as his Privy Council have a voice therein. I 
do not recollect anything else that hath occurred worth 
mentioning. 

" Remember me to our children an'd friends, and believe 
me yours most affectionately, 

"George Read. 

" Mrs. G. Read, New Castle, per John Vining, Esquire." 

Mr .^ Read, being in Philadelphia in the month of August, 
had, for what reason does not appear, not gone to his friend 
Mr. Dickinson's house to lodge, as was expected, and Mr. 
Dickinson wrote, in consequence, the following letter of 
affectionate expostulation : 



OF GEORGE READ. 383 

"Dear Sir, — I wrote to you some days ago, insisting 
upon your lodging with me, having heard accidentally 
that you were to be in town. 1 sent the letter by Mr. 
Curtis Clay. 

" I now hear with surprise that you are at Mrs. House's. 
You must not treat me so unkindly. Remove to my house 
to-morrow, with bag and baggage, or I will take it as most 
unfriendly behavior. What can you mean ? I know that 
I may always take leave to shun New Castle, which I will 
religiously do, unless you treat me in the character I have 
a pleasure in endeavoring to preserve, of being your friend. 

"John Dickinson. 

"Wednesday, August—, 1783." 

In September Mr. Read was again called to Philadelphia, 
to attend the Court of Appeals in admiralty cases, and 
again urged by his friend Mr. Dickinson to be his guest: 

" Dear Sir, — I understand that the Court of Appeals 
sits this month. I therefore insist upon your taking your 
former lodgings here. Please to give Mrs. Dickinson's 
compliments to Mrs. Read, and tell her, if she really de- 
sires to oblige us, she will visit Philadelphia with you. 
" I am, sir, your truly affectionate 

" John 'Dickinson. 
" Philadelphia, September 1st, 1783. 
" George Read, Esquire." 

Between his public duties and professional engagements, 
Mr. Read's life was one of incessant occupation. It appears 
by the following letter that in November he was in Dover, 
as member of Council, the Legislature being in session : 

" My dear G , I sit down to write at eight o'clock this 

Friday evening, after a tedious sitting to hear the long re- 
lation given by witnesses under examination as to the 
irregularities complained of in the Sussex election. From 
the slow progress in this work, which was begun yesterday, 
I cannot give you any just information as to the time of my 
return, but presently suppose it will not be till the latter 
part of the next week. The Council have gone through 
the examination of the Kent election, but no determination 



384 LIFE AND GORBESPONDENCE 

is yet had thereon. I have just got a note from Mr. B. 
Chew, mentioning his having seen you yesterday, at half- 
past one o'clock, and all well. I have the pleasure of in- 
forming you that I am presently in the like situation, but 
I know of nothing particular here worth mentioning. Dr. 
Gilden, who is to carry this, has let me know that he in- 
tends setting out from hence early to-morrow morning; 
therefore accept of this as an apology for a hasty scrawl. 
My love to our friends, and believe me yours, most aflfec- 
tionately, 

"George Read. 

"Dover, 7th November, 1783. 

"Mrs. G. Read, New Castle." 

On the 17th November Mr. Dickinson wrote to Mr. Read, 
" I shall be exceedingly obliged to you if you could, with- 
out too much trouble, send me a copy of your militia law. 
We think here that we have very great reason to complain 
of two of your young gentlemen who have been in town 
and never called to see us, except one of them, in going up 
to Bordentown." 

Judge Killen facetiously announces his second marriage 
in the following letter: 

"Dover, December 10th, 1Y83. 

"Dear Sir,' — Since I saw you last I have got married, — 
God help me ! The mighty advantageous character you 
gave me of the woman I am now obliged to acknowledge 
for a wife had no small influence in bringing about our 
present union, which I am fearful will ruin me ; that is, 
bring me into disgrace with all my friends and acquaint- 
ance, but more especially with hers. Had I married a 
termigant, I believe I should have made a tolerably peace- 
ful husband, and submitted quietly to a petticoat despotism; 
but this good woman — my wife, I mean — pays such an ex- 
treme attention to me and my children, — shows such a 
desire to please, — that I am afraid she will utterly spoil me, 
and, instead of the henpecked husband, will transform me 
into the legal tyrant. This you know would be a great 
misfortune to me, as it would inevitably change the favor- 
able sentiments you and others of my friends may have en- 
tertained of me heretofore into resentment and detestation, 
as none of you who knew Mrs. Killen before her connection 



OF GEORGE READ. 385 

with me, in case <any discontent or uneasiness should arise 
between lier and nie, will charge her with being the cause, 
— all the blame will be attributed to me. From this state 
of my case you will naturally conclude that, b^- entering 
into the matrimonial contract, I entered into recotjiuzance 
for my future good behavior. If, therefore, I have any 
regard to my own credit, it will be incumbent on me not to 
forfeit this recognizance ; for in that case, should you be 
employed to bring an action thereon, I know^ you \\\\\ prose- 
cute me with the utmost rigor. For this reason I will, 
under all my infirmities, strive, by my peaceable behavior, 
to avoid this danger. But, to be a little serious. Mrs. 
Killen seems much pleased with her new place of residence, 
and the kind and polite reception she has met with here 
from many of my friends and acquaintances, of both sexes, 
but, perhaps, as much owing to the amiable character she 
sustained before her marriage as to their friendship for me. 
Be that as it may, you can, if you please, when you come 
to attend the next meeting of tiie General Assembly at this 
place, be better informed of things interesting to her than 
I can relate. In the mean time she joins me in our respect- 
ful compliments to you nnd Mrs. Read. 

"I am, dear sir, your most obedient, humble servant, 

"William Killen. 

"The Honorable George Read, Esquire." 

In December, 1783, Mr. Livingston, Secretary of Foreign 
Affiiirs, resigned. General Schuyler, Mr. Read, and Mr. 
Clymer were nominated to succeed him, but unwillingness 
was manifested by several States to vote for any of these 
gentlemen ; and it having been hinted that Mr. Livingston 
might be prevailed on to serve till the spring, a committee 
was appointed (December 20th) to confer with him, who 
reported (December 21st) that he had consented to do so; 
and this report was agreed to without opposition. — Elliott's 
Debates, vol. v. pp. 9, 16. 

The year 1783 closed upon Mr. Read in the bosom of his 
family, sharing the joy of his countrymen at the successful 
tennination of their contest with Great Britain ; and he 
could not but share in the anxiety and gloom of 1784, and 
several succeeding years, when the States (united little more 
than in name), exhausted by eight years of war, without 



386 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 

credit, almost, at home and abroad, and without an efficient 
national government, seemed to be drifting, helpless and 
hopeless, to confusion and anarchy. 

Of Mr. Read's correspondence in 1784 I have found but 
two letters. Of these, the first is from Mr. Dickinson ; the 
other from himself to merchants of Philadelphia. 

" Dear Sir, — Last night I returned from Carlisle — a jaunt 
that I hope will be of some service to my health. To-day 
I met your son in the street, and he was so obliging as to 
call this afternoon. He can spare but a few minutes, as he 
proposes to leave town to-morrow morning. I cannot miss 
the opportunity of returning you my thanks for making the 
inquiries mentioned in a former letter, and have only further 
to trouble you by requesting you to know of Mr. Duff to 
whom he paid the money that Avas recovered by McCool. 
Mrs. Dickinson and Sally join with me in presenting our 
best compliments to you, Mrs. Read, and the young gentle- 
men. 

"I am, sir, your very affectionate and humble servant, 

"John Dickinson. 

"Philadelphia, April 14th, 1784. 

"George Read, Esquire." 

"New Castle, 9th September, 1T84. 

"Gentlemen, — This will be presented to you by a Mr. 
Nathan Thomas, of this county [New Castle], whose in- 
clination leads him to perfect his studies (begun here) in 
the physical line at Edinburgh ; and to enable him to con- 
tinue there the necessary time for that purpose, he wishes 
to have a letter of credit to your house, as connected in 
commerce with that city, and has applied to me for such 
letter, saying that you were pleased to inform him that 
such a letter from me w^ould be satisfactory to you, and that 
you would honor his drafts to the amount thereof. Though 
this young gentleman is but little known to me, I well knew 
his father, who, at his death, left a valuable estate among 
his children ; and I learn that this son inherits parts thereof, 
to the value of one thousand pounds currency or more. 
Therefore, willing to encourage him in his laudable pursuit 
after knowledge, I do hereby engage myself to be answer- 
able to you for his occasional drafts for money from time to 



OF GEORGE READ. 387 

time, so as the same shall not in the whole exceed the sum 
of one hundred pounds sterling money of Great Britain, ex- 
pecting that you will give me a reasonable notice previous 
to your expected times for payment of them, tliat I may be 
punctual therein and you not disappointed. I am obliged 
by your confidence, though not personally known [to you] ; 
and I am, with much esteem, your most obedient servant, 

" George Read. 
" Messrs. Stewart & Barr, Merchants in Philadelphia." 

^\ this generous act Mr. Read suffered some inconven- 
ience, as will appear. 

In conformity with a resolution of Congress of 10th De- 
cember, 1784, the agents of New York and Massachusetts 
(December 24th, 1784) appointed Mr. Read, with eight 
others, commissioners to constitute a court to determine a 
controversy as to territory claimed by both, by virtue of 
article ninth of the Confederation. — Journals of Confjress, 
vol. xi. pp. 14, 24, 25. 

The Legislature of Delaware enacted a law (February 
5th, 1785) for calling in, paying, and destroying such of the 
bills of credit, issued by the then existing or any preceding 
government of this State, as were outstanding. '=" The fol- 
lowing " Protest" of Messrs. Bassett and Read shows in a 
very luminous manner the reasons of their dissent from the 
provision for the payment of these bills at the rate of one 
pound for every seventy-five pounds thereby secured to be 
paid : 

" Richard Bassett, upon the yeas and nays being entered 
on the question aforesaid [shall the section of the bill con- 
taining the above provision pass], demanded leave to enter 
reasons of dissent thereto; which, being granted, he delivered 
a paper, subscribed by him and George Read, containing as 
follows. [They] dissent : 

" Because by an act of the Assembly of this State, passed 
the 11th of February, 1781, for stating the accounts of the 
several loan officers, etc. in the respective counties of this 
State, commissioners were appointed for the express pur- 
pose of settling and stating all the accounts of the said loan 

* Laws of Delaware, vol. ii. p. 801. 



388 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 

officers, from the 1st of June, 1774, to the 1st of June, 1781, 
therein forming an accurate list of all mortgages outstand- 
ing, — principal and interest due and to become due to the 
1st of June last aforesaid, — with the sums of money in the 
hands of any of the trustees in each year during the said 
period, whether the same, or any or what part thereof was 
gold, silver, government, State, or Continental money, and 
when and how the same had been applied or disposed of, 
and also giving in such statement all such other information 
respecting the premises as m'ujht best enable the General Assem- 
bly to determine concenwig the said funds and the transac- 
tions relating to the said office. That the said commission- 
ers have reported no more than two statements of the said 
loan office transactions, — to wit, for the counties of Kent 
and Sussex; and these are wanting in some part of the 
information specially pointed out, and have not yet been 
acted upon by the General Assembly. That the delays in 
making these statements must have been considered una- 
voidable, otherwise it is to be presumed other commissioners 
would have been appointed to that duty. 

" That we who dissent to the first enacting clause of the 
bill, so far as it fixes the redeeming value of these bills of 
credit at the rate of seventy-five pounds of their nominal 
sums as only equal to one pound of the present lawful 
money of the State, are of opinion that the General Assem- 
bly, at this time, have not that information respecting the 
said loan office funds as was directed to be furnished under 
the act of Assembly before mentioned, and which we con- 
ceive to be indispensably necessary to fix the redeeming 
value of these bills upon the principles of justice and pres- 
ervation of the public faith, pledged by the legislative au- 
thority of the State, at the time of emitting and sending forth 
the said bills of credit as a temporary currency for the benefit 
and advantage of the State and its wanting inhabitants; and 
that we may be understood in the assertion that the public 
faith, as aforesaid, hath been pledged, we refer to the sev- 
eral acts of Assembly for emitting different sums, in bills 
of credit, on loan, and providing funds for payment of 
public debt; by which it appears that these paper bills were 
devised to supply the place of a deficient quantity of gold 
and silver, necessary for the common uses of money in the 
society, and, at the same time, to furnish government with a 



OF GEORGE READ. 389 

supply for the support thereof to be derived from the interest 
reserved, and to be paid by those who had the loaned use 
of the paper bills for a limited time ; that these borrowers, 
to secure the return or repayment of those bills after that 
limited time, mortgaged their real property to trustees ap- 
pointed for the purpose, and bound themselves, in their 
mortgages, to pay the nominal sums of the bills of credit 
loaned to them, either in like bills, or in other current 
money of America, which miglit furnish the trustees with 
other money to exchange for the remaining part of the bills 
of credit that had issued from the said loan offices, and not re- 
paid in kind by the borrowers ; so that all the bills of credit 
which were so sent forth for temporary circulation, in lieu 
of gold and silver, might gain a credit or opinion, among 
the holders thereof, equal to that of gold and silver, from 
the nature and value of the property pledged to the public, 
by the borrowers or mortgagers, for the repayment or re- 
demption of such bills of credit. That this security, and it 
alone, could and did support the value of those bills as equal 
to gold and silver, — it being of that nature as best to insure 
the return of those bills' to the public's trustees or agents, 
who, by those laws of emission, were directed to receive, ex- 
change for, and afterwards burn and destroy all those bills, 
after a circulation, for the purposes above mentioned, for 
the periods of twelve or, at most, sixteen years, — the long- 
est time proposed, in any of those laws, for their existence. 
In this manner, w^e say, the public faith of the State hath 
been pledged by the legislative authority thereof. Now 
the question arises shall that be wantonly or unnecessarily 
broken by directing that the principal moneys due on the 
outstanding mortgages, when paid in, shall be applied but 
in part to the calling in and redeeming the paper bills of 
credit emitted, under the circumstances aforesaid, at one- 
fourth of the value at which government first parted with 
them? and that the residue of those principal moneys 
should be taken for the use of the State, as well as the in- 
terest moneys, which properly belonged to it, as reserved 
and so declared in the original laws to be the sole benefit 
that was to accrue to government therefrom, for, tJttd prin- 
cipal being paper in its emission, a return of that paper was 
to be procured, and tiien [it was to be] burned at limited 
periods, so that if the i'aith or promise made in those acts 



390 LIFE AND COBRESPONDENCE 

of Assembly was kept and observed as it ought [to be], as 
well on principles of policy as of justice, all those paper 
bills ought to be called in at the value they issued [at], if 
the funds provided for so doing were equal thereto ; but if 
lessened by unavoidable accidents or measures, then so 
much of the funds as remained unhurt, that is so much of 
the i^rincipal moneys yet due, and which can be received 
on the outstanding mortgages, should be applied for this 
purpose, and for this only ; and each present holder ot 
these paper bills should receive only the sum per pound 
which the fund of principal moneys, when collected in, 
would enable the trustees to give in lieu of the whole sums 
of paper bills emitted as aforesaid. Therefore, until it can 
be known how much of principal moneys the outstanding 
mortgages will produce or bring into the loan office chest, 
the General Assembly cannot, in justice, and consistent[ly] 
with the public faith, pledged as before mentioned, fix the 
value of those bills of credit, demanded by the clause of the 
bill herein objected to, at perhaps one-third or two-thirds 
less value than the productive funds, arising from the mort- 
gages aforesaid, may or shall produce. This will be a lay- 
ing hold of moneys they have not the least color or shadow 
of right to, or pretence for, — to wit, the ^9rmci2>a? moneys 
outstanding and due on all the loan office mortgages. As 
to the interest due, we do not apprehend any just or legal 
claim can be made thereon by the holders of those paper 
bills to be called in, because that was declared, in the first 
instance, to be for use of government. The funds for se- 
curing the principal were all that was declared or offered for 
securing the redemption of those paper bills, so the holders 
were to run the risk of their being reduced by unavoidable 
accidents or measures that might happen. Therefore we, 
the dissentients, say that fixing the payment of the certifi- 
cates, directed to be be given up by the respective trustees 
appointed in the bill, to seventy-five for one,* is improper 
and unnecessary, because premature, and now is apparently 
unjust and unwarrantable from anything appearing to this 
House. 

*' Richard Bassett. 

"George Read." 

♦^Delaware Laws, vol. ii. p. 803. 



OF GEOBGE READ. 391 

Mr. Read received, in August, the distressing intelligence 
of the death of his brother-in-law, the Reverend William 
Thompson, Rector of St. Stephen's Church, Cecil County, 
Maryland. 

"Dp:ar Sir, — It is with feelings of the most tender 
nature that I sit down to inform you of the death of your 
esteemed friend, the Reverend William Thompson, who 
took his flight to a better world about half-past three this 
afternoon. He unfortunately got a small scratch upon his 
leg, last week, and on Friday evening the indications of a 
mortification showed themselves. It presently pervaded 
the whole system, and would not give the least way to 
any means used by Doctors Clayton, Matthews, and 
Veazey. 

" Poor Mrs. Thompson,'-' who, as you may imagine, is in- 
consolable, cannot be prevailed upon to have the corpse in- 
terred before the service can be performed, and the putrid 
state of it will not permit it to be kept longer than till to- 
morrow afternoon, if so long. A messenger is therefore 
hurried off to you under a hope that you, and any other of 
his friends who can, will attend, and with a request that you 
will prevail on the Reverend Mr. Wharton to accompany 
you and preach his funeral sermon. I can on this melan- 
choly occasion only lament with you the loss that both the 
community at large and his near connections must sustain 
by his death. 

" I am so agitated, I hardly know what I write you. 

" Dear sir, your most obedient, humble servant, 

"Michael Earl. 

" Cecil, half-past four o'clock p. m., Tuesday, August 
16th, 1785." 

Mr. Read was now inconvenienced and annoyed by a 
draft on him, without the reasonable, stipulated notice, of 
the young man, Nathan Thomas, to whom he had given 
a credit with a mercantile firm in Philadelphia, to enable 
him to pursue the study of medicine in Edinburgh, where 
was the most celebrated school of physic of that day. 

* Daughter of the Reverend George Ross. 



392 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 

"New Castle, 23d September, 1T85. 
"Gentlemen, — A bill drawn by Nathan Thomas, at Edin- 
burgh, in favor of Alexander Mowbray, for thirty pounds 
sterling, payable at five days' sight, directed to me, hath 
been exhibited on your behalf, as indorsers of that bill, for 
acceptance and payment, — this being the first notice I have 
had of such an intended draft, and which was most in- 
cautiously made, by this Nathan Thomas, at so short a 
sight. I have been obliged to inform your friend, Mr. 
Thompson, that I could not accept it for payment within 
the time limited therein, having paid, and being under 
obligations to pay, in the course of the next week, so much 
of the moneys that I had on hand, that I could not advance 
even this sum within the limit of this bill. When you 
resort to my letter of the 9th of September, 1784, giving 
Nathan Thomas a credit v/ith you for occasional drafts, not 
exceeding one hundred pounds sterling, it was [you will 
see] on the terms of a reasonable notice previous to the ex- 
pected time of payment, and I can submit to you whether 
this five days can be considered as such. To be in this 
situation of postponing payment of what I may be called 
upon for, is very unpleasing and rather uncommon with me, 
and you may be assured that if I could so immediately pay 
this sum, as demanded, I would do so, rather than give my- 
self the trouble of writing this, or you that of reading it. 
Nathan Thomas has not acted prudently in this business, 
nor agreeably to his engagements with me, which were 
that his brother, his agent here, should collect his out- 
standing moneys and place them, or so much of them as he 
should want, in your hands, previous to his drawing, and 
that no draft should ever be made till one or more letters 
of advice were sent previously, giving notice thereof. I 
have never received a line from him, nor seen the brother 
but once, to my knowledge, since I wrote to you, and I 
think he then called to tell me that Nathan had arrived in 
Great Britain ; and, in truth, the idea of being drawn upon 
had slipped my memory, so that I have not from time to 
time made the necessary prudent inquiries as to the steps 
taken to get moneys to answer Nathan's wants, — for, you 
may be assured, I neither have nor ever had a shilling of 
his in my possession. However, agreeably to my engage- 
ment to you, I will pay you, or your order, at New Castle, 



OF GEORGE READ. 393 

the amount of this bill, in thirty days (the most eommon 
usance in exchanu-e) from this date, and, sliould I be en- 
abled sooner so to do, will give you or Mr. Thompson notice 
thereof I shall take it as a favor that you write to your 
correspondent to decline taking an}'' drafts of this youngster, 
made at less usances than sixty days, so that no unneces- 
sary disappointments may arise as to the receiver or payer, 
and I am your most obedient servant, 

"George Read. 
"To Messrs. Stewart & Bark, Merchants, Philadelphia. 

"After writing the above. Captain Robinson gave me an 
order on Mr. Hu : Thompson, Wilmington, for the sum of 
fifty-three pounds, nine shillings, and eight pence, currency, 
the amount of the before-mentioned bill, which Mr. Thomp- 
son accepted and gave me a receipt for on the bill, for. that 
sum, and I gave Captain Robinson my note therefor, pay- 
able in twenty days, and I requested immediate payment 
from James Thomas." 

Mr. Read added to this memorandum, "Paid this note, 
25th October, 1785, and received the whole amount from 
James Thomas." 

Mr. Read did not, as a less benevolent man might have 
done, withdraw the credit he had given young Thomas, as 
appears from a copy (on the back of the above letter) of his 
draft on him for seventy pounds, from Greenock, 27th of 
May, 1786, presented for acceptance, 5th of August, 1786, 
towards payment of which he notes, on the same letter, the 
receipt of forty pounds from James Thomas. 

Mr. Read was re-elected to the " Council," at the general 
election held in October, 1785, for three years. The whole 
number of votes cast was 1503, of which he received 1062.* 

Mr. Read introduced, in the following letter, two youths, 
seeking admission into Nassau Hall, to the distinguished 
president of that college, who found, it may be hoped, in 
the discharge of the duties of that office, occupation more 
desirable and pleasing to him, as it certainly was more akin 
to his sacred profession, than the deliberations and del^ates 
of the Continental Congress, of which he was a prominent 
member. Who could have even conjectured the career in 

* See Appendix C. 

26 



394 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 

America of this minister of the kirk of Scotland ? When 
he turned his back upon the weavers of Paisley, his friends 
anticipated that he would win high repute as a governor 
and teacher of young men, and probably be the rival, as an 
author, of Edwards, the subtle defender of the dark and 
cruel fatalism of Calvin, — but not that he would be the bold 
and active and able advocate, as he was, of colonial rights, 
in the hall of Congress and without it, and have the high 
honor of setting his name to that immortal instrument, the 
Declaration of independence.* 

"New Castle, Ittb October, 1*785. 

" Reverend Sir, — This will be handed to you by two * 
young men, — one my son, the other a youth, son of a de- 
ceased friend, — who wish to pursue a particular line of 
study at your college for the ensuing twelve months, if the 
same may be consistent with your rules and regulations. 
They have gone through all the common classical Latin 
authors, except Cicero's Orations, at the grammar school 
in this town, but have read only some small parts of the 
Greek Testament, as nothing more of that language was 
intended for them. 1 had expected ere this that they would 
have gone through Cicero's Orations ; however, I have been 
disappointed. Both of the young men express the desire 
to begin the study of the law, after employing twelve 
months in some branches of learning that may be useful 
and necessary, — viz., logic, moral philosophy, and the most 
useful parts of mathematics. They wait of you to be in- 
formed if they can have a chance of pursuing such a line of 
education in the college of Princeton. I have the satis- 
faction to say that their morals and conduct here have been 
as unexceptionable as those of any youth within my knowl- 
edge ; and I have reason to hope a continuance of the like, 
more especially if they shall be placed in the college, under 
your direction. They now attend you to be informed if 
they can be thus instructed, and if so, will engage their 
lodgings, and return again to Princeton by the beginning 
or middle of next month. 

" I am, etc., 

" George Eead. 

"To Dr. Witherspoon, at Princeton, New Jersey." 

* See Appendix Gr. 



OF GEORGE READ. 395 

The year 1785 closed upon Mr. Read with his business 
so increased as to reduce him to what he calls, in the foUow- 
in<i' letter to his friend John Dickinson, now removed to 
Wilmington, a state of slavery. 

"Xew Castle, 2011i December, 1785. 

"Dear Sir, — I should have done myself the pleasure of 
waiting upon you yesterday, with my daughter, that she 
might have paid her respects to your lady and Miss Sally, 
but I was unexpectedly prevented by an accidental inter- 
ference of business, and through which I am reduced to a 
greater state of slaverj^ than my man Juba. The day was 
fine and tempting, and such another may not happen 
shortly. The air of this morning is raw and disagreeable, 
— rather too much so to pass the 'Ferry;' however, on the 
first favorable change I shall embrace it and see you. Mrs. 
Read has been much distressed with a severe cold for more 
than ten days past, and must probably confine herself for 
the winter. This morning she complains of much pain in 
the breast, and the cough has been violent. My brother. 
Captain Read, has been waiting for eight days to have about 
twelve hours of my time devoted to some business of his, 
and this is the first day I could give him an expectation of 
appropriating to his service. I had yours by Mr. Lake, 
delivered after a messenger came from the court requiring 
my attendance there, and while I was putting on my shoes, 
so that I had no opportunity of even treating him with a 
show of civility, which I would have done by reason of your 
introduction of him. The old lady. Almond, performed the 
business you sent her in for. Mrs. Read and Miss Polly 
desire compliments to Mrs. Dickinson, Miss Sally, and Miss 
Maria, to whom you will present mine ; and I am, with 
much esteem, 

. "Your most obedient, humble servant, 

"George Read. 

" Honorable John Dickinson, Wilmington, Delaware." 

Mr. Read's anxiety for his son John, lately admitted into 
the junior class, Nassau Hall, and having recently, for the 
first time, left his paternal wing, to trust in his own judg- 
ment and prudence to guide him in a new scene with novel 
companionship, was relieved by satisfactory intelligence, as 
appears by the following letter : 



396 LIFE AND GOBRESPONDENCE 

"New Castle, December 10th, 1185. 

'^ My dear Son, — In yours of the 29tli ulto., brought by 
your uncle, John Read, you mention a letter from you to 
me as sent per post. It never came to hand, which is the 
reason you have had no answer thereto ; and I am not in- 
formed by your last what might have been theiein requiring 
a special answer. Your uncle tells me you received one 
from me by that conveyance, which is all I have yet wrote. 
One of yours of the 12th of November, directed within to 
your mamma, with a superscription to me, wherein you 
mention being examined, and your then seeming intention 
not to enter the junior class but only as a resident student, 
and to diet at Dr. Smith's until you heard from me. My 
letter, sent per post, left you at liberty to act for yourself, 
relying on your prudence for the choice of measures and 
conduct. But I understand from your uncle that you have 
entered the junior class, which, upon the whole, I am best 
satisfied with ; and as to the place of your board, you are 
at liberty to choose for yourself, as you have the means in 
your own power to pay for it by drawing upon your Uncle 
James in Philadelphia, or writing to him to send you occa- 
sionally what you want by some safe hand, which he can 
readily meet with, you taking care to notify him of your 
w^ants in time. 

" I am informed that young Mr. Read, of South Carolina, 
is in the same room with you. He is a little known to me; 
I met with him as a fellow-lodger at Mrs. House's, in Phila- 
delphia. Make my compliments to him. I think you will 
have reason to be pleased with him. His father was a 
native of New Castle, born in the house T. Pusey now lives 
in, next to us. 

" When you come to be better acquainted with the cus- 
toms of the college, and the families about you, you will 
find all things more agreeable; and if any matters are 
wanting in the provision way, you have the means of pur- 
chase in your power, which, I doubt not, you would use 
prudently. Your uncle tells me that Cantwell and you 
express your entire satisfaction of the diet at Dr. Smith's ; 
if so, by all means, continue there. I do expect that you 
will write me with the utmost freedom on every occasion 
when time shall admit of your doing so. I am anxiously 
desirous of having your mind at ease, for the sake of its 



OF GEORGE READ. 397 

improvement in knowledge, and T hope that you will not 
permit those occurrences which necessarily happen in the 
attainment of knowledge to disturb you What I particu- 
larly allude to is early rising, which is indispensably neces- 
sary, though it was shamefully dispensed with at New 
Castle. When you see Captain Little, inform him that I 
have his letter per your uncle, and will comply with the 
directions tlierein as time and opportunity offer. We have 
an adjourned court, to begin on Monday and continue each 
day through the week. I am concerned in thirty-two of 
the causes set down for trial, so that I can attend to nothing: 
else during that time. 

" When you went to Princeton I did not recollect that 
Colonel George Morgan lived there, or I should have given 
you an introductory letter to him. He has been long known 
to me, and is a very worthy man, and I wish you to be 
known to him and his familj''. My first leisure will furnish 
you with such a letter. I have not yet answered Dr. 
Witherspoon's letter, waiting to hear particularly from you. 
I gave you the purport of his to me. Look over it, and if 
you would wish me to mention anything relative to your 
situation, inform me in your next. 

'■ Ba attentive to your health, taking prudent exercise 
when the weather admits. I have written to your brother 
Will on the subject, and desired him to transcribe what I 
mentioned to him to attend to; if he should delay comply- 
ing with my request, remind him of it. By accustoming 
yourself to letter-writing, it will become familiar and easy. 
Be attentive to your spelling, as mistakes of that sort are 
rather culpable in a classical scholar of rank, and it only 
requires a little attention to the words when forming them 
with the pen. Remember the family to Cantwell Jones. 
George will probably pay you a visit ere long, but the time 
cannot be fixed yet. 

" I am, with affectionate regard, yours. 

"George Read. 

" Li your superscription of letters you are not to put Mr. 
and Esqr, at the same time, — one of them only is proper. 
Your last, I discover, had the Mr. erased. 

" Master John Read, Princeton." 



398 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 

In 1786 the mortifying fact was ascertained that the 
financial plan proposed by Congress in 1783 had failed. 
This scheme vested in Congress power to lay and collect 
imposts on certain enumerated articles of merchandise 
during the period of twenty-five years, and so provided, in 
part, a fund for the expenses of the Confederacy ; but it 
could not take effect without the consent of all the States, 
and New York refused her assent. The state of affairs was 
gloomy, — the war-debt of the Revolution, of forty-two mil- 
lions of dollars, must be paid or secured, and its annual 
interest provided for, and the country was exhausted by 
that war. Congress had but the shadow of power, its requi- 
sitions being disobeyed and its recommendations unnoticed. 
It availed nothing that this body could contract debts and 
make treaties, since it could not raise money to pay the one, 
nor could it enforce the other. There was a mischievous 
party that fomented in the States jealousy of the general 
government, and defeated, too often, endeavors to make it 
efhcient. Enterprise drooped, patriotism seemed dead, and 
the future was dark and unpromising. The people were 
looking on, inert, helpless, and stupid, while the opportu- 
nity offered to reap the fruit of their late success was 
passing from them. They were like the sick man at the 
critical point of his malady, when he either dies or 
recovers. 

Secretary Thomson's letter, the first in my possession of 
Mr. Read's correspondence in the year 1786, exhibits the 
official delinquencies in Delaware, — a sample of those in 
other States : 

" OFncE OF Secretary of Congress, March 1st, 1Y86. 
" Sir, — Having occasion to write to you for the purpose 
of forwarding a resolution of Congress expressing their sense 
of the ability, fidelity, and attention of the judges of the 
Court of Appeals, I cannot omit the opportunity of request- 
ing your assistance in a matter that concerns the honor of 
your State and the welfare of the Union. Since the begin- 
ning of November last your State has been unrepresented 
in Congress. I have frequently written to the President 
[of Delaware] ; but whether my letters have failed to reach 
him, or from his living out of the way of the post his an- 
swers have miscarried, or from some other cause I know 
not, I have never received an answer to any of my letters. 



OF GEORGE READ. 399 

"The present situation of public affairs requires a full 
representation in Congress of all the States ; I must there- 
fore request that you would exert your influence in urging 
the attendance of your delegates as speedily as possible. 

" I have further to observe that Congress, by an act of 
27th May last, required ' the Legislatures of the several 
States to cause the services of the agents appointed for the 
purpose of receiving and distributing the certificates of the 
Paymaster-General, in a final settlement of the balances 
due the officers and soldiers of their respective lines, to be 
examined, and make them such allowance as they may 
think them entitled to, and charge the same 'to the United 
States.' 

"On the 7th of June, 1785, they passed an act recom- 
mending to the several States to make provision for officers, 
soldiers, or seamen who have been disabled in the service 
of the United States, in a manner pointed out in the act. 
And by an act of the 27th July, 1785, they directed the 
Secretary of Congress to apply to ' the executives of the 
several States for thirteen copies of the legislative acts 
thereof since the 1st September, 1784, one copy of which to 
be retained, for the use of Congress, and one set to be de- 
livered to the delegates of each State (except the State 
whose acts are delivered), for the use of the Legislature 
thereof;' and at the same time they directed the Secretary 
to procure and distribute, in the same way, the acts which 
might thereafter be passed, to the end that every State, 
being thus informed, may have the fullest confidence in the 
other States, and derive the advantages which may result 
from the joint wisdom of the whole. 

"On the 27th November, 1785, they made a requisition 
on the States for the payment of the interest of the foreign 
and domestic debt and for the services of that year. On the 
30th September they passed an act regulating the office of 
the Commissioners of the Continental Loan Offices in the 
several States, making it part of their duty to receive the 
moneys arising from Continental taxes in their respective 
States, and to pay the interest due from the United States 
in the said States respectively; and in the said act recom- 
mended to the Legislatures of the several States to direct 
their treasurers to transmit to the Board of Treasury a 
monthly abstract of all moneys paid on account of the re- 



400 LIFE AND GOBRESPONDENGE 

spective States to the Commissioners of the Continental 
Loan Offices, distinguishing the dates and the amounts of 
payments, and the sums paid in actual money from these in 
interest certificates. 

"And on the 12th October, 1785, they passed a resohition 
earnestly calling on the States to complete, without delay, 
the whole of their quotas of the requisitions of 4th Septem- 
ber, 1782, and 27th and 28th of August, 1784, and requiring 
such of the States as were deficient in paying their respective 
quotas of the interest of the domestic debt, pursuant to the 
said requisitions, to collect and pay into the public treasury 
the amount of such deficiencies, either in certificates, to be 
issued pursuant to the requisition of the 27th of September, 
for payment of the said interest, or in specie, to be applied 
to the redemption of such certificates ; providing, neverthe- 
less, that the sum to be paid into the treasury in interest 
certificates, as part of the requisition of April, 1784, shall 
not at any time exceed the proportion of facilities to be paid, 
agreeably to that requisition. 

"These several acts I transmitted to the President, but 
have received no answer; I have therefore to request the 
favor of you to use your endeavors that I may have an 
answer to the several transmissions. The best answer will 
be the acts of the Legislature complying with the recom- 
mendations, acts, and requisitions. 

" It is my earnest wish therefore that you would exert 
your interest and abilities — both which I know are great — 
in prevailing with the Legislature to pass laws as speedily 
as possible, in compliance and conformity with those several 
acts, if they have not already done it, and then to use your 
interest in having them forwarded, that I may make report 
thereof to Congress. 

" I shall be still further obliged if, with these laws, you 
can have the thirteen copies sent on which are mentioned 
in the act of the 27th July, 1785. 

" I should not be thus troublesome were I not convinced 
of your zeal in the cause of liberty, and your ardent desire 
to preserve the honor and promote the happiness of this 
infant Commonwealth. This, I hope, will be my apology. 

" I am, with sincere respect, sir, your most obedient 
and most humble servant, 

"Charles Thomson. 

"Honorable George Read." 



OF GEORGE READ. 401 

That the confidence of the Secretary of Congress in Mr. 
Read's patriotism was not misphiced appears by his letter 
to President Van Dyke, as follows : 

"New Castle, 25th March, 1780. 

" Sir, — The Secretary of Congress having occasion to 
transmit to me a resohition of that body rehitive to the 
judges of the Court of Appeals, addressed me also on the 
total want of a representation from this State in the Con- 
gress of the United States, from the beginning of last No- 
vember, stating that the public affairs presently re({uired a 
full representation there of all the States. The Secretary's 
letter to me is dated the 1st inst. I received it on the 
evening of the 7th, and the person who brought it from the 
post-ofhce in Wilmington to me told me he had letters 
directed to your Excellency from the same place, which he 
should immediately deliver to Mr. Secretary Booth. As I 
apprehended one of them was from the Secretary of Con- 
gress, I have delayed writing to you on the subject of our 
delegates' attendance, supposing that ere this your Excel- 
lency would have prevailed on some two of the five mem- 
bers of that delegation to have gone forward to New York ; 
but, on inquiring, I am told it is not so. As I am clearly 
of opinion that your Excellency, as the head of the Execu- 
tive Department in the State, hath a superintendency over 
all the subordinate departments therein, I would submit to 
your Excellency's consideration whether an authoritative 
^ call upon those presently in the delegation of this State to 
perfurm that duty or resign their appointment ought not to 
be made by you, with an intimation that if your requisition 
should not be attended to, that you must officially state 
their delay or refusal to the General Assembly at their next 
sitting. All this done might have a proper effect, and if 
not, your duty therein would be performed. 

"The complaint of the last year, as contained in your 
Excellency's message of the 23d of May, does not seem to 
be remedied by an increase of members in the delegation to 
Congrt'ss, for near five months of the twelve have passed 
over without any attendance there, and it will not be bet- 
tered till local politics in such nomination shall be laid 
aside, and a State policy adopted in stead thereof. 

" Secretary Thomson's letter also mentions some a«ts of 



402 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 

Congress as transmitted to your Excellency, but as he has 
received no answer, he doubts a miscarriage of either yours 
or his letters. The first is an act of Congress of the 27th of 
May last, requesting a legislative provision to be made in 
favor of the agent for receiving and distributing final settle- 
ment certificates of balances due to the officers and soldiers ; 
the second, an act of the 7th June, 1785, to make provision 
for disabled officers, soldiers, and seamen. The first seems 
to have been provided for and finally acted upon the 19tli 
Januar}^, 1785, as per votes of Assembly then, pp. 27, 28. 
The second, I suppose, was considered as fully provided for 
in the act of the 5th February, 1785, printed by Adams, 
p. 17. A third act of Congress, of the 27th July last, pro- 
vides for thirteen copies of the legislative acts of this State 
since the 1st of September, 1774, being transmitted thereto; 
this, I apprehend, cannot be fully complied with until a new 
edition of our laws shall be printed, which may be in the 
course of the year. A fourth Congress act of requisition [is 
that] of the 27th of September last, to enable that body to 
make payment of interest on the foreign debt. This busi- 
ness lies before the Legislative Council, in a bill, framed for 
the purpose by the House of Assembly at their last sitting, 
and postponed for want of necessary information as to the 
quantum of the sum sufficient for that requisition ; and the 
one of the 4th of September, 1782, the accounts in the au- 
ditor's office of the State being so imperfect and incomplete 
that it could not be known if any surplus there was of 
former taxes, to be applied to the last, which it is hoped 
may be known at the proposed session in May. This post- 
ponement could not affect the raising of moneys to comply 
with the last requisition, of the 27th September, 1785, as 
the House had in their bill fixed the payment of the first 
quota of the taxes to be levied thereby to the month of 
October next. A fifth act of Congress, of 12th October last, 
earnestly calls on the States to complete, without delay, the 
whole of their quotas of the requisitions of the 4th of Sep- 
tember, 1782, and 27th and 28th April, 1784. As to the 
first of these, I know of no provision made therefor, but I 
believe it to have been the intention of the Council to have 
added it to the last tax bill before them, mentioned in the 
preceding page of this [letter], when they could obtain the 
information there alluded to. As to that act of Congress 



OF GEORGE READ. 403 

of April, 1784, it was completely provided for by a draft of 
the General Assembly for two thousand pounds', or thirty- 
two thousand dollars, so long since as Januarj'or February, 
178o, as appears by the printed votes of the House of As- 
sembly then ; and, secondly, by the act of Assend^ly of the 
26tli of June, 1781, pages 4 and 10, in which last page it is 
declared that the State Treasurer shall not, on any pretence 
whatsoever, apply any part of the moneys directed by that 
act to be paid into his hands until the remaining sum of 
that quota — viz., twenty-four thousand and forty-two dol- 
lars and five-tenths — should be paid to the use of the United 
States, Now it appears that considerably more than this 
last sum has been paid into the Delaware State Treasury 
by the county collectors of New Castle and Kent only. By 
the Delaware tax act of the 21st of June, 1783, provision 
therein was also made for the twenty-eight thousand dollars 
requested by Congress in the requisition of IGth October, 
1782; so that it appears eighty-four thousand dollars and 
upwards thus has long since been provided for by this State. 
It appeared by the United States Treasury account, laid 
before the Assemblj^ at their last sitting by your Excellency, 
that this State's credit thereon, on the 30th October last, 
was less than twenty-three thousand dollars, but where the 
delinquency was could not be certainly known, from the 
imperlect state of the accounts in the auditor's office about 
the end of the session of January last. 

'•Thus I have gone through the general matters in Secre- 
tary Thomson's letter, with observations thereon, as I stand 
informed, and I hope I shall be excused by your Excellency 
for troubling you on this occasion. The business has been 
pressed upon me, and few men have less time to devote to 
matters of this kind [than I have], and very few less in- 
clination. But I consider Congress in a most delicate situ- 
ation at present. Much of it appears from their commit- 
tee's address in the House of Assembly in New Jersey. En- 
ergy is, apparently, wanting through most departments in 
all the States, but the want of it is more conspicuous in 
some than others. The money business of our own State 
is much deranged, and it really appears as if it must be so. 
All the provisions and resolutions respecting it seem to be 
of little use. Few mind or obey them ; and unless the Ex- 



404 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 

ecutive exerts itself towards their execution, it will be need- 
less to make any more. 

" I have the honor to be, with great respect, 3'ours, 

"George Read. 

" President Van Dyke." 

To this letter President Yan Dyke replied as follows : 

" Sir, — Your letter of the 25th of last month was deliv- 
ered to me on yesterday, and I am extremely obliged to you 
for the trouble you have taken in furnishing me with the 
communications therein contained, [and] also for the pam- 
phlet which accompanied tlie letter. 

" I feel myself happy in having an opportunity of making 
you acquainted with the part I have acted in the business 
of the representation of the State in Congress. You are not 
ignorant that Congress some time past directed their Secre- 
tary to make monthly returns to the States of the repre- 
sentation in Congress. I have regularly received such, and 
as regularly furnished the same to the General Assembly 
on the receipt thereof. In the recess of the two Houses I 
have regularly made the delegates acquainted with the call 
of Congress, and urged their attendance by arguments which 
appeared to me most likely to have effect; and in so doing 
I considered that I had performed my duty, and exercised 
all the power of which I was possessed in this business. 
Had I undertaken to call on them in the manner you men- 
tion, they doubtless would have considered me officious and 
desirous of exercising a power to which I had no preten- 
sions. This must have been the case on consideration that 
they receive their appointment from the General Assembly, 
are removable by that body, and are consequently account- 
able to them only; and the information on this subject, 
regularly laid before the General Assembly, removes every 
color of necessity that the President should table a com- 
plaint in the case. 

"As to the other officers of government, they are (with 
a very few exceptions) appointed in a similar manner, and 
under the same control, holding their offices during good 
behavior, or for a certain time, fixed, and removable only 
on conviction of malconduct in office, which in most cases 
must take place in a court of law. I consider them, for the 



OF GEORGE READ. 405 

reasons aforesaid, totally unaccountable to the Executive. 
From this view of the subject, the President who might be 
imprudent enough to interfere further, or so desirous of 
exercising a power (which must be only a constructive or 
implied power), very soon would find that no good could 
result to the State, and that disgust and much trouble would 
certainly be his reward. 

'' In the same manner I consider those persons handling 
public money, and for similar reasons. The executive 
branch in this State have naught to do with money mat- 
ters, unless expressly empowered by the acts or resolutions 
of the General Assembly. In these instances I have ever 
paid an early attention to the business thus assigned me. 

" Previous to the late sessions of Assembly, and since, I 
have received sundry letters and acts of Congress from 
their Secretary, and I am inclined to think they have been 
all regularly received which were forwarded by the Secre- 
tary. The first are now with the Legislature, and the 
others will be presented at their next meeting. The reason 
I did not write that gentleman before the last sessions was 
the desire to procure copies of sundry acts, in order to 
transmit them, and to have it in my power to forward some 
information on the business of the requisition for '85. My 
sickness at and after my return home from Dover has been 
the cause of delay until some time in the last month. An 
expectation of being enabled to write more fully from New 
Castle, in the course of next week, has caused delay. 

"Thirteen copies of the laws of the State cannot be pro- 
cured until the new edition comes out. Great complaints 
are daily made of the delay in this business. 

" I fully agree with you that a State policy in appoint- 
ments would be very beneficial ; but, sir, you must consider 
that the effecting this, as also the proposed regular conduct- 
ing money matters, is a work of time. Young States may 
be compared to young men, who generally are ignorant in 
the business of managing their property advantageously, at 
least for some years after they become masters of it. As 
no individual becomes wise at once, neither did an}- State 
or government ever arrive to a considerable degree of 
perfection in jurisprudence or internal policy in a short 
time. 

" The hands of Conirress are too w-eak, and their situation 



406 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 

is and frequently has been very difficult. Time and expe- 
rience will remedy these Federal embarrassments. It is not 
to be admired at that these States proceed with cautious 
steps in delegating power. This has been carried to an 
extreme by some States, but this will be got over ; and the 
sooner Congress, by their conduct, give evidence of economy 
and wisdom, the sooner will they be intrusted with all 
necessary power, and be better furnished with money, 
ways, and means to support the credit of the Federal gov- 
ernment. 

" I am, sir, with esteem, your very obedient servant, 

" Nicholas Van Dyke.* 

'' 7th April, 1786. 

" Honorable George Read." 

It seems to me Mr. Read recommended to President Van 
Dyke no assumption of power proper to another department 
of government; but only that he should exert more vigor- 
ously tlie undoubted executive duty of superintendency, 
which he had, according to his own letter, already exercised 
in a less degree and in vain over these delinquent public 
servants. 

I am free, however, to admit that Mr. Read was of the 
class of statesmen formed in the school of the Revolution, 
accustomed to brave, without waiting to calculate the effect 
upon self, the responsibility of exercising with p^romptitude 
and energy even a power which might be questioned, when 
necessary to save the Commonwealth from danger or dis- 
credit, while statesmen less daring and unselfish would 
pause upon the confines of different departments of govern- 

* "Died at his farm, in St. George's Hundred, on the 19th instant, 
after a short iUness, in the fifty-first year of his age, Nicholas Van 
Dyke, Esquire, late President of the Delaware State, leaving a wife and 
numerous family to lament their irreparable loss. The virtues of can- 
dor, prudence, and benevolence were highly conspicuous in his character, 
in the public and honorable offices with which he was invested by his 
fellow-citizens as well as in the duties of domestic retirement. In his 
conduct he showed such a regard to civil and religious society as in a 
high degree attracted general respect and esteem. In him the State 
has lost a steady patriot, his acquaintance a faithful friend, his family 
a most indulgent husband, a fond father, and a humane master. To 
the friends of virtue and religion who knew him his memory will be 
long precious." — Delaware Gazette, published at Wilmington, Delaware, 
Saturday, February 28th, 1789, No. 194. 



' OF GEOItGE READ. 407 

ment, which, in the most nicely adjusted systems of polity, 
like the colors of the rainbow, so run into each other as to 
make it difficult to determine where one ends and the other 
begins. 

Mr. Read, deeply sensible of the manifold evils of the 
imbecile Federal government, could not have been much 
consoled by the barren generalities, and a parallel partaking 
more of fancy than of fact, of the President's letter. Time, 
from which he hoped so much, can do nothing for us, though 
in it we must do all we have to do and in it must happen 
all that is to befall us. The President had a vague and 
dreamy expectation of something, he could not tell what, 
that was to turn up, he could not tell when, and set all 
right in a community in which he could not deny there 
was much that was wrong.''' 

Mr. Read replied to Secretary Thomson's letter of March 
1st, 1786, as follows : 

"New Castle, 8th April, 1786. 

"Sir, — From the length of time since I received your ad- 
dress of the first of March last, you may very reasonably 
suspect that inattention and neglect pervade all the citizens 
of this State ; however, certain circumstances, which might 
be too tritiing, or at least too unentertaining to set down 
here, were the cause of this delay of answer; with your 
own declaration, ' that the acts of the Legislature, comply- 
ing with the several recommendations, acts, and requisi- 
tions of Congress, would be the best answer.' 

" Immediately on receiving your address, above [men- 
tioned], I wrote to President Van Dyke, affording him every 
information in my power, to enable him to give you some 
satisfactory account of what had been done by the Legis- 
lature of the State on the several acts of Congress, men- 
tioned in yours to have been transmitted to him ; and as I 

* " The continent was divided into two great political parties, the 
one of which contemplated America as a nation and labored incessantly 
to invest the Federal head with powers comiietent to the jireservation 
of the Union; the other attached itself to the State authorities, viewed 
all the powers of Congress with jealousy, and assented reluctantly to 
measures which would enable the head to act in any respect independ- 
ently of its members." — MarshaWs Life of Watshinytoti, vol. v. p. 33. 
To the last mentioned of these parties, I conclude, from President Van 
Dyke's letter, he belonged. 



408 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 

had his answer, some time after, I am to presume that you 
have heard fully from him long ere now. But as it may 
have happened, as heretofore, that the acts of our Legislature, 
relative to the immediate demands of Congress, may not 
have been transmitted to you before, I send you the in- 
closed printed copy. The first act of Assembly, making 
provision for this State's quota of the eight millions of dol- 
lars of 1781, and of two millions of dollars of 1782, hath a 
provision therein, to wit : in its twenty-first section, w^iich 
I think requisite to explain, for a reason that will appear 
hereafter. You may recollect that Congress in their requi- 
sition of the 28th of April, 1784, for a moiety of the eight 
millions aforesaid, said that the several States might so 
model the collection of the sums called for that the three- 
fourths being paid in actual money, the other fourth might 
be discharged by procuring discounts of interest with the 
domestic creditors of the United States ; and for that end 
the loan officer of the State should issue certificates for the 
amount of interest due, as well on loan office certificates as 
on certificates of other liquidated debts of the United States, 
to the end of the year 1782, and that the same should be 
receivable, first from the bearer within the State, and after, 
from the State into the public treasury, in the proportion 
aforesaid. In pursuance of this requisition the Legislature 
of this State, in their act of Assembly of the 26th June, 
1784, making provision by taxation for a compliance there- 
with, enacted : ' That for the ease and convenience of 
paying the aforesaid tax, such citizens of the State as had 
obtained certificates from the Continental loan office 
thereof, for moneys lent to Congress, and every citizen of 
the State who had any liquidated debts against the United 
States, might produce their certificates to the Continental 
loan officer of the State, and obtain from him a certificate 
of the interest due to the last of the year 1782, which cer- 
tificates the loan officer was thereby required to give, con- 
formable to such instructions as he should receive from the 
Superintendent [of Finance], the which last-mentioned cer- 
tificates should be receivable by the collectors of each 
county of the State, on account of the sums of money to be 
raised by the said act, and that the collectors should pay 
the same, in lieu of so much lawful money,' as per the 
seventeenth section of the printed act, which the treasury 



OF GEOBGE READ. 409 

office bath by my transmission to tbe superintendent soon 
after tbe passing, if not in your office presently. After tbe 
passage of tbis act tbe tben Continental loan officer, Gen- 
eral Patterson, declined, for a time, to perform tbis duty, 
on pretext that tbe State had made him no special allow- 
ance therefor, and no such interest-certificates were issued 
by him until tbe latter end of November, 1784, following; 
however, being then pressed on the business, he proceeded 
therein, rather backwardly, at times. After a tedious ill- 
ness General Patterson died, in or about the month of May, 
1785, leaving part of this business of issuing interest-certifi- 
cates undone, — wdth tbis that divers of the taxables of the 
State, particularly of New Castle Count3^ had not got their 
claims finally ascertained by Colonel Winder, tbe Conti- 
nental commissioner, or bis certificates therefor until after 
Patterson's death, upon divers of which one, two, or per- 
haps more, years of interest were due at tbe end of the 
year 1782. Some time intervened until tbe Congress ap- 
pointment of Dr. James Tilton as their loan officer of the 
State, and be uniformly refusing to issue any such interest- 
certificates in favor of those taxables who bad not obtained 
theirs in Patterson's time, alleging that he was not in- 
structed, or instructed not so to do, by tbe Board of Treas- 
ury ; complaints of such refusal, therefore, gave rise to tbe 
said twenty-first sectiori in our act of the 24th of June, 
178G, aforesaid. And as I have an application, lately made 
to me, from the collector of New Castle County, alleging 
that Dr. Tilton yet refuses to issue interest-certificates to 
the end of tbe year 1782 in favor of those taxables, — many, 
if not all of them, the original creditors of the United 
States ; and that he, the collector, cannot, in justice to such 
taxables, compel a total payment by them in cash, — be 
wished me to make some representation where tbis might 
finally be determined upon ; and not thinking myself war- 
ranted to address the Board of Treasury hereon, I have taken 
tbe liberty of stating tbe matter to you, as you seemed to 
afford me an opening by your address on tbe public business 
of tbe State. Tiie question, therefore, is shortly this: 'Are 
the taxables of this State holders either of loan office cer- 
tificates, or of liquidated debts of the United States, whereof 
any interest was due on tbe last day of tbe year 1782, or 
are they not entitled to demand and have certificates for 

27 



410 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 

such their interest due at that time, as well under the faith 
of the aforesaid act of Congress of the 28th of April, ] 784, as 
under the State act of Assembly, made in conformity thereto 
in the Jane following, from the present loan officer, Dr. Til- 
ton, as they might from the late loan officer, General Patter- 
son, was he living?' This is simply the question, and I appre- 
hend it a necessary one to be solved by the Board of Treasury, 
as I am informed by the New Castle County collector afore- 
said that there are near two thousand dollars due for such 
interest to his wanting taxables, under the act of 1784, and 
that the present commissioner of the loan office yet refuses 
to issue other certificates than those directed under the 
Congress act of September, 1785, which are only receivable 
in taxes agreeably to that particular requisition, and so 
will not answer the end of paying their parts of the tax 
under the requisition of 1784, which the taxables aforesaid 
conceive in good faith they are entitled unto ; and I do ap- 
prehend this act of refusal may produce difficulties when 
the Legislature of this State shall take up the business of 
providing for the Congress requisition of 1786. This State's 
proportion of facilities, under the act of 1784, was fourteen 
thousand dollars; no more than ten thousand and eleven 
dollars — sixty-nine-ninetieths — have been received, so that 
there are near four thousand dollars short of the admissible 
sum, of which there may be about two thousand dollars 
due to persons circumstanced as before stated; so that the 
State or its taxables will not have the amount of fiicilities 
allowed them to offer, and of course pay the rest in actual 
money. I have heard the reason from the loan officer, Dr. 
Tilton, — that he thought he ought not to issue any [in- 
terest-certificates aforesaid], for that the money already paid 
into the Continental treasury did not equal the proportion 
of indents or facilities received, — to which this answer was 
given: That although this was a reason why he, as the 
Continental receiver of the State, might refuse to accept of 
any more facilities from the treasurer of the State until 
there should be an excess of money payments, yet it was 
not a reason for him, as the loan officer of the State, to refuse 
the issuing such certificates for interest, as that issuing 
could not increase the proportion allowed by Congress, as 
he was neither obliged nor bound in duty to receive beyond 
that proportion; whereas a refusal to issue was a breach of 



OF GEOIiGE BEAD. 411 

the faith of Congress, hehl up in their requisition, and in 
defiance of the act of the State, founded on that requisition. 
Moreover, that those wanting taxables were thus hardly 
treated by tlie neglect of right application of the moneys 
actually received by the commissioner of the loan office, 
and who then happened to be the treasurer of the State, 
to other purposes than the one expressly declared in that 
law of 1784, in the twelfth section thereof, to wit: that of 
paying to Congress their proportion of the moneys directed 
to be levied thereby, in the first instance, in preference to 
all other drafts or orders whatsoever. 

"This business, and question thereon, T recommend to 
your notice, that it may be discussed and acted upon before 
the next session of Assembly, in the latter end of October, 
that no unnecessary obstacles may be thrown in the way 
of obtaining a provision for the Congress requisition of 
1786. 

"As to the delegation from this State, truly my feelings 
are much hurt, i have no personal interest with those in 
the appointment, which I have been made fully satisfied of, 
for, although 1 have both publicly and privately remon- 
strated with such of them as I have had an opportunity of 
seeing since March last, and pressed it warmly on the 
President to give them an official call to that service, with 
a threat to state their refusal to the General Assembly in a 
formal way, by special message for the purpose, no more 
than a three weeks' attendance hath been procured, and I 
cannot say you are to expect more in this year. 

"You will receive with this my acknowledgment of yours 
of the 9th of February; it was actnally wTote at its date, 
and was kept to have been sent with the answer intended 
then to be shortly made to yours of the first of March afore- 
said ; but the more I thought upon its contents and my 
situation, to wit, merely that of a private man within the 
State, other than having a seat in one of the branches of 
its Legislature, thus, as it were, necessarily addressed upon 
the delinquency of public men, the more I doubted of the 
manner of my answer. Our wants, sir, are many, and 
among others, that of eflicient men, and that of free and 
truly public sentiment, detached from local and personal 
prejudices, to exist among the i)opuhir leaders in the 
society, and more energy in all the parts and persons of 



412 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 

government ; but, as the Deity may at some time supply 
these, contentus sum, I ought now to beg your excuse for 
this long and tedious address, and which I sincerely do, 
and am, with much esteem and respect, yours, 

"George Read. 
"Honorable Charles Thomson." 

The "plan of education" mentioned in the letter of John 
Dickinson, which follows, has not- been preserved, and I 
regret that I can give no account of it. The letter is in- 
teresting, because it contains the opinion of this eminent 
man upon the question, "Ought governments to provide or 
not for the instruction of their citizens or subjects in the 
doctrines and duties of the Christian religion?" and his solu- 
tion of the problem, "How the right can be exercised, and 
the duty performed, without infringing liberty of conscience.' 

"Dear Sir, — I am much obliged to you for your favor by 
Mr. Shultz, and for the pieces inclosed. The 'plan of edu- 
cation' is, I believe, very well digested, though I should 
rather approve of a greater number of Latin authors being 
read by the classes. The letter to Mr. Mason pleases me 
much, but does not appear to be sufficiently explicit or 
guarded on a point of such immense importance. It carries 
with it the idea of levying cowiYihwiion^ for the maintenance 
of ministers of the go-^-j^el upon all persons but such as shall 
disclaim the general religion of the country. But there 
are great numbers of Christians who regard the levying of 
such contributions as utterly unjust and oppressive. Let 
not that question be hastily, perhaps erroneously, decided. 
On the other hand, it is the duty of government, with the 
utmost attention and caution, to promote and enforce the 
sublime and beneficial morality, as well as theology, of 
Christianity; and, considering them as connected with gov- 
ernment, how can this be done better than by employing 
men of wisdom, piety, and learning to teach it, — and how 
can they be so employed unless they are properly sup- 
ported, — and how can they be supported but by the gov- 
ernment that employs them? Let impositions be laid for 
this purpose. If any man conscientiously scruples their 
lawfulness, let him be permitted to appropriate his share to 
the use of the poor, or any other public service. Thus 



OF GEORGE READ. 413 

governmGnt would strenuously carry on the grand work of 
teaching virtue and religion, without offering the least 
violence to the conscience of any individual, — a neglect and 
contempt of which last sacred right has been the disgrace 
and curse, and will infallibly be the destruction, of every 
human institution, however cunningly devised, on this mo- 
mentous subject. 

" Mrs. Dickinson and Sallie present their compliments to 
you, Mrs., and Miss Read. They will be very hap])y to see 
you next week. You do not menticm your daughter's 
coming, but I hope she will, as Mrs. Dickinson says she 
will have a room for her. I am sorry I cannot have the 
pleasure of seeinji; you, being under an indispensable neces- 
sity of setting off for Kent on Monday. 

"I am, my dear sir, your ever affectionate 

"JouN Dickinson. 

"AViLMiNGTON, April 28th, 1786." 

The state of public affiirs was such as to excite great 
alarm in all reflecting and patriotic men, — worse for being 
indefinite. Calamity seemed ready to overwhelm the country, 
but its precise form none could predict. If there be a con- 
dition perilous to tlie honor of communities and of individ- 
uals, it is tliat of debt. The close of the war of the Revolu- 
tion left all in this unhappy situation, — the Confederacy, 
the States, their citizens, — with a currency so depreciated 
as to be almost worthless, and their resources exhausted by 
seven years of hostilities. Foreign merchants, on the open- 
ing of the American ports after the peace of 1 783, eagerly 
sought the market they offered to them. Goods, in great 
quantities, adapted to the tastes and wants of the day, were 
imported and sold, not for cash, but on credit, and so there 
was an increase of debt. Land became almost unsalable, 
personal property sold for a song, and the embarrassed be- 
came desperate and reckless, and at last regarded creditors 
as comrhon enemies, enforcing claims w^hich only iron- 
hearted and merciless men would enforce, under the circum- 
stances of the times. Indulgence, the debtors might have 
fairly claimed, but too many of them improved the occasion 
to defraud their honest creditors. The embarrassed men, 
being in the majority, shielded themselves, in many of the 
States, by legislation, from the forced payment of their 



414 LIFE AND COBRESPONDENGE 

debts. The miserable shifts of an issue of paper money, or 
a suspension of all taxes, were in some States resorted to ; 
personal property, at an appraised value, might be ten- 
dered, in others, in payment of debts, or the recovery of 
them was prevented by closing the courts. Two great 
parties divided the American people; the one held the in- 
violability of contracts to be the dictate no less of policy 
than of justice, and that by their stern enforcement men 
would be taught to look for relief from distress, not to 
empirical legislation, but to labor and economy, and be 
restrained from imprudent engagements which would be 
recklessly entered into if there might be escape from their 
obligations. Men of this party paid their debts, and 
thought others should pay theirs, and the courts be always 
open to compel them, if they neglected or refused to do so. 
They thought also that States should be as true to their 
plighted faith as their citizens, and should be provided with 
means to promptly pay all demands upon their treasuries, 
by annual taxation, justly apportioned and punctually col- 
lected. The other party had no pity but for dehtors, in 
their eyes the most oppressed of men. As the collection of 
debts was, in their opinion, cruel, in the then condition of 
the country, they looked with favor upon stay-laws, the 
closing of courts, and suspension of taxation, and, being so 
indulgent to others, it may be reasonably concluded were 
equally so to themselves, and their standard of morality be 
insensibly lowered. The first party desired a national gov- 
ernment, so wisely framed and so strong as to protect all 
classes and interests, and confer the inestimable boon of 
general and abiding harmony, while it compelled justice 
and respect from foreign governments. They thought Con- 
gress a safe depository of power, because its members were 
elected, for short terms, by the people, and must suffer 
equally, from bad legislation, with themselves, and because 
they had the strongest motives to desire and to cultivate 
popular favor. The other party were unreasonably jealous 
of Congress, and opposed obstinately all attempts to vest 
this body with the power it wanted and which experience 
had shown to be indispensable to an efficient national gov- 
ernment, preferring to it (and such delusion we can scarcely 
believe) the attempt to govern the whole people by thirteen 
independent Legislatures, who had so often brought t^eir 



OF GEORGE BEAD. 415 

country to the brink of ruin by failing to adopt measures 
the most necessary, in season, or at all. Foreign govern- 
ments declined negotiating commercial treaties with a Con- 
federacy which could make compacts but not enforce them, 
and restraints and burdens and exclusions were laid upon 
our commerce with imj)unitv, for Congress wanted power 
to defeat them by countervailing measures. Massachusetts 
was in open rebellion. Everywhere, though squalid poverty 
was rare, thousands were suffering the slowly-wasting 
misery of straitened circumstances; dishonesty, with brazen 
front, was abroad, and fear of the future paled the cheek. 
But there were still men* wdio believed that the state of 
their country was not hopeless, for they w^ere convinced 
that God, who holds the helm of universal rule, would 
never have led their countrymen to independence by events 
so remarkable as to appear to some persons miraculous, 
only to demonstrate the impracticability of democratic gov- 
ernment. It was a noble confidence, and was soon rewarded. 
From a measure promising no important and extended 
result, for it was local and in itself insignificant, came the 
relief so anxiously desired, and generally so faintly expected. 
This was a commission of citizens of Virginia and Marjdand 
to regulate the navigation of the Potomac and Pokomoke 
Rivers, and part of the Chesapeake Bay, the trade regula- 
tions of these States having been inconvenient and injurious 
to the citizens of both. From it resulted the appointment 
by the Legislature of Virginia of commissioners " to meet 
such as might be appointed by other States, at a time and 
place to be agreed upon, to consider the trade of the United 
States, to examine the relative situation of the trade of the 
said States, to consider how far a uniform system in tlieir 
commercial relations may be necessary to their common 
interest and permanent harmony, and to report to the 
several States such an act, relative to this great object, as, 
when unanimously ratified by them," will enable the United 
States, in Congress assembled, to provide for the same." 
From this proposition grew the convention that framed the 
Constitution of the United States. 

Mr. Read, together with Jacob Broom, John Dickinson, 
Richard Bassett, and Gunning Bedford, was appointed by 

* One of them was John Jay. 



416 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 

the Legislature of Delaware, in June, 1786, to meet with 
the commissioners that had been or should be appointed to 
consider the commercial relations of the several States and 
devise and report to Congress a system for the regulation of 
their trade.* 

Congress resolved, in February, 1786, that, as the war 
with Great Britain had ceased, and there was little business 
in the Court of Appeals in admiralty cases, the salaries of 
its judges should cease, expressing their sense of the ability, 
f[iith fulness, and care with which these officers had discharged 
their trust. Mr. Griffin, one of Mr. Eead's colleagues in 
this court, in his letter on this subject, intimated that "a 
little partj^ business predominated in the passing of this 
resolution." Congress retained this court, admitted there 
was some business remaining before it, and yet made no 
provision for paying the judges for disposing of it, which 
they must have expected them to do. Secretary Thomson 
makes known to Mr. Read a subsequent resolve of Congress 
in this matter in the letter which follows : 

"Office of Secretary of Congress, June 29th, 1786. 

" Sir, — In my letter of the 5th July last I informed you 
that the committee to whom was referred the letter of 23d 
December, 1784, from Messrs. Griffin and Lowell, two of 
the judges of the Court of Appeals, reported as their opinion 
'that the present judges of the Court of Appeals were still 
in commission, and that it would be necessary that the 
Court of Appeals should remain upon its establishment, 
except with respect to the salaries of its judges, which 
should cease from a day to be fixed by Congress, and that 
in lieu thereof they should be allowed a certain number of 
dollars per day during the time they should attend the sit- 
tings of the courts, and including the time necessarily em- 
ployed in travelling to and from the court ;' that Congress 
not coming to a determination at that time, the report was 
recommitted, and the resolution of the 1st of July was 
passed, of which I transmitted you a copy, whereby the 
salaries of the judges were stopped, their commissions still 
remaining in force. 

" I have now the honor to inform you that in consequence 



* See Appendix D. 



OF GEORGE READ. 417 

of sundry memorials and petitions from persons claiming 
vessels in the Courts of Admiralty in some of the States 
praying for hearin,<;s and reheiirings before the Court of 
Appeals, the United States in Congress assembled have been 
pleased to pass the resolution herewith inclosed, authorizing 
and directing the Judges of the Court of Appeals to sustain 
appeals, and grant rehearings Or new trials wherever justice 
and right may in their opinion require it, establishiug the 
allowance to be made to the judges, and directing the court 
to assemble at the city of New York on the first Monday of 
November next. 

" It being given me in charge to take order for the pub- 
lishing of these resolutions for the information of all persons 
concerned, I have ordered copies of them to be inserted in 
the newspapers of this city, with a request to the printers 
of the several States to republish them in their papers; but 
lest any of them should fail, I have transmitted copies of 
them to the Supreme Executive of the several States, and 
have requested that they would be pleased to cause them 
to be published for the information of their respective citi- 
zens. I shall esteem it as a favor if you will take such 
further steps as you shall judge necessary, that all persons 
concerned may have due information. 

" With great respect, I have the honor to be your most 
obedient and most humble servant, 

"Charles Thomson. 

" The Honorable George Read, Judge of the Court of 
Appeals." 

The Secretary of Congress again wrote to Mr. Read : 

"August 25th, 1186. 

" Sir, — I received by the last post, and had the honor of 
communicating to the United States, in Congress [assem- 
bled], your two letters of April 9th and August 19th. The 
latter is referred to the Board of Treasury to report, so that 
I am in hopes the grounds of complaint mentioned will 
speedily be removed. 

"•' With great respect, I am your most obedient, humble 
servant, 

" Charles Thomson." 



418 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 

The rouo'h drafts of these letters of Mr. Read have not 
been preserved.* 

The journey which it appears from the following letter 
Mr. Read and his friend John Dickinson were at this time 
about to make was, I have no doubt, to Annapolis, to meet 
the commissioners, Avho were to assemble there to frame a 
commercial system for the States. 

" Dear Sir, — Upon reconsidering the plan of our journey 
to Maryland, I am convinced that it will be impracticable, 
or at least inconvenient and disagreeable, to travel from 
New Castle to Chestertown in one day. It seems to be 
much more advisable that on the evening of the 3d of next 
month we should lodge atCantwell's Bridge or Middletown. 
The next day we may reach Chestertown — perhaps Rock- 
hall. Notice can be given to Mr. Bassett of this alteration, 
and our baggage may go by stage, as before proposed. A 
line to Mr. Kitchen will secure good beds. Please to 
favor me with an early answer. 

"Your friend, 

"John Dickinson. 

"Wilmington, August 27th, 1786. 

"George Read, Esquire." 

The reader will, I suppose, be amused, in these days of 
fast travelling, at Mr. Dickinson's notion of the impractica- 
bility, or inconvenience and disagreeableness, at least, of 
making the journey from New Castle to Chestertown in 
one day. The distance between these towns is about fifty 
miles, and I have more than once travelled it in one day, 
without distressing my horse or inconveniencing myself. 

Mr. Griffin, one of Mr. Read's colleagues in the Court of 
Appeals, wrote to him as follows from 

"Richmond, August 29tli, 1786. 
" My dear Sir, — I do myself the pleasure to ask if you 
intend to [be] at New York, in November, upon the busi- 
ness of appeals ? 

* Unless the letter of April 9th be that of April 8th, which is prob- 
able ; Secretary Thomson writing by mistake 9th instead of Sth of this 
month. Tlio reference of one of Mr. Read's letters to the Treasury 
Board strengthens, I think, this conjecture. 



OF GEORGE READ. 419 

" I am afraid no money will be hail to defray our ex- 
penses. It would be proper to make some inquiries. 

" How inconsistently Congress liave acted in ordering tbe 
salary of tbe judges to cease, and are now again obliged to 
call tbem together! Have you not heard that a little party 
business predominated in that affair? 

" It is very extraordinary that Congress never received 
the joint letter we wrote them upon the subject of the Court 
when they sat at Annapolis. Mr. Lowell and myself were 
compelled to repeat it at Trenton, without even having an 
oi:)portunity to consult you. 

"An answer, directed immediately to me, or through the 
Virginia delegates, will be received with much satisfaction. 

" I hope Mrs. Read and yourself are in the best health. 

" T am, my dear sir, with great esteem and regard, your 
obedient friend and humble servant, 

"C. Griffin.* 

" Honorable George Read, New Castle, Delaware." 

The next letter in order of dates, received as he was about 
setting off for Annapolis, was no doubt disheartening. 

"PniLADELpmA, 3cl September, IVSG. 
" Dear Brother, — Yours of the 1st inst. came to hand 
about eight o'clock last evening, and I immediately set out to 
procure the information you desired ; but, unluckily, every 
one of the gentlemen [you mentioned] were out of town, 
and not expected home till late. 

* Cyrus Griffin was born in England, but anterior to the American 
Revolution was a member of tbe bar in Virginia and of her Legisla- 
ture, and twice, if not oftener, chosen one of her representatives in the 
Continental Congress. While a member of that body (Fobrunry 28th, 
17S0) he was appointed a judge of the " Court of Appeals in admiralty 
cases." Mr. Madison, in a letter to Edmund Randolph (New York, 
January 17, 1788), thus announces the election of Mr. Griffin to the 
presidency of the Continental Congress: 

" Dear Sir, — A Congress was made for the first time on Monday 
last, and our friend C. Griffin placed in the chair. There was no com- 
petition in the case, which you will wonder at, as "Virginia has so lately 
supplied a president. New Jersey did not like it, I believe, very well, 
but acquiesced." Mr. Griffin died at Yorktown, in 1810, agt'd si.\ty-t\vo 
years, holding the office of Judge of the United States District Court 
of A'irginia, and having been the first judge appointed to that court — 
Applcton's Gijclopsedia of Biofjraphy, p. 345; Madison Papers, vol. ii. 
p. 6G7. 



420 LIFE AND COBRESPONDENGE 

"All that I have been able to learn respecting their 
movements was from Mrs. Fitsimmons, who told me that 
neither her husband nor Mr. Morris were going to Annapo- 
lis ; [but] that she understood Mr. Clymer, Mr. Cox, and 
General Armstrong (Secretary of the Commonwealth) were 
to go on that business, but did not know when they were 
to set out. 

" I heard a person say in the coffee-house that there were 
two gentlemen in town from Jersey, on their way to meet 
the convention at Annapolis. I inquired if he knew their 
names, but was answered ' he did not,' nor did he know if 
there were any coming from farther eastward. 

"I shall write to you at Annapolis if I can learn any- 
thing worth communicating. My family enjoy tolerable 
good health at present, and join in love to yours and all 
our other friends. Wishing you an agreeable jaunt and a 
happy issue to the deliberations you are going to engage in, 
" I remain, your ever affectionate 

"James Read. 

" Sunday morning, six o'clock. 

"George Read, Esquire." 

Delegates from Virginia, Delaware, Pennsylvania, New 
Jersey, and New York met at Annapolis, and organized by 
choosing John Dickinson for their president; but the num- 
ber of the States represented being thus small, and it be- 
coming evident upon the discussions which ensued that the 
whole system of the Federal government required revision 
and amendment, and the commissions of the delegates not 
empowering them to undertake a work so grave and so ex- 
tensive as this, they determined, instead of adopting a com- 
mercial system for the States, to recommend that they 
should choose delegates, to meet in Philadelphia on the 
second Monday in May, 1787, to revise the " Articles of 
Confederation," and recommend such alterations therein as 
would fit them for the exigencies of government and the 
preservation of union. 

Mr. Read, being the only one of the delegates from his 
State to the late convention at Annapolis who had a seat 
in the Legislature of Delaware, was anxious to be present 
at the session of that body, about to be held, that he might 
report the result of the convention, give all necessary in- 



OF GEORGE READ. 421 

formation in regard to it, and especially that he might exert 
his influence in support of its recommendation; but, un- 
fortunately, the time ap[)ointed for holding the Court of 
Ap[)eals would fall within the period of this session of the 
Delaware Legislature. In this case of conflicting duties, 
which must yield ? The letter which follows will show 
Mr. Read proposed to reconcile them. 

" New Castle, October Tth, 1786. 

" Sir, — I had your letter of the 29th of June last, with 
its inclosure, the resolves of the United States in Congress 
assembled, authorizing and directing the judges of the Court 
of Appeals to sustain appeals and grant rehearings or new 
trials in the cases which have been or may be brought 
before them, where justice and right might require it, and 
for the assembling ol the said court on the first Monday 
in November next, in a reasonable time after it was trans- 
mitted from your ofiice ; but the Legislature of this State, 
previous thereto, having adopted the proposition, originally 
made by the Legislature of Virginia, for a convention of 
commissioners, of the nomination of the respective States of 
America, to meet at Annapolis, for the purpose of forming 
a system of commercial regulations, calculated for the union, 
and having named me as one of their commissioners for that 
meeting, I apprehended any answer I could make to your 
address and information would much depend upon the result 
of such convention of commissioners; for although true it is 
that the honorable Congress had a right to a preference of 
attendance, yet I did conceive the great importance of the 
business held out for the proposed convention might, in the 
opinion of that honorable body, be a proper subject of excuse 
for the non-attendance of an individual member of their 
Court of Appeals, in case the proceedings to be had at the 
convention should render his attendance necessary else- 
where than at New York at the time prefixed. And as that 
meeting of commissioners was but a partial one, and they 
recommended to their respective States a further appoint- 
ment, with enlarged powers, I have thought that it might 
be useful and necessary for me, as the sole attending com- 
missioner that had a seat in the Legislative Council of this 
State, to be [present] at the next session of the General As- 
sembl}^ thereof, in the latter end of this month, as well for 



422 LIFE AND CORBESPONDENCE 

laying the result of the meeting at Annapolis before them, 
as personally to state and urge the reasons that induced 
that unanimous opin-ion, expressed in their report, in favor 
of a future appointment of commissioners, with enharged 
powers, and now more especially as a majority of the re- 
turned members in the several counties of the State for the 
House of Assembly are new ones ; and therefore it is that 
now, through you, I have to request of the honorable the 
United States, in Congress [assembled], an indulgence of 
time for my attendance in the Court of Appeals, at New 
York, until the latter end of the month of November, or 
beginning of December, by which time I do expect that the 
ensuing session of the General Assembly of this State will 
certainly end. I should have made this application sooner 
after my return from Annapolis, but that I have been daily 
expecting to hear from my colleague, Mr. C. Griffin, to 
whom I had written, informing him of my situation as to 
attendance at the proposed Court of Appeals, and wishing 
to know if he could be there at the time fixed therefor. I 
have not yet been fiivored with an answer, but on my 
return from Annapolis I met Mr. Griffin's brother in Balti- 
more, who told me Mr. C. Griffin had said he should go to 
New York after the rising of the Virginia Assembly, that 
would sit in November, of which he (Mr. C. Griffin) was a 
member. Therefore, under such circumstances of other 
public duty to be performed by the judges of appeals, I must 
beg it of you to have it submitted to the honorable the States 
in Congress [assembled], whether a postponement of the 
meeting of the Court of Appeals to the first Monday in De- 
cember would be attended with any improper consequences 
as to the expected business in that court, as by that day, if 
no unforeseen accident should happen, I could, Avithout inter- 
ference with other public duty, attend at New York; and 
from what 1 have mentioned above, it is highly probable 
Mr. C. Griffin will be there then, and Mr. Lowell, being so 
informed, may not be disappointed by coming forward at 
too early a day. My situation, as herein stated, must, sir, 
be my apology for giving yo\x this trouble of application.* 



* It does not appear that this application was made, nor, if made, 
with what result. 



OF GEOBGE READ. 423 

"With much respect, I am your most obedient, humble 
servant, 

"George Read. 
"Charles Thomson, Esquire." 

The next letters are the last of Mr. Read's correspond- 
ence for 178G which I find among his papers. They con- 
tain some information worth preserving, and show further 
how intimate was the friendship between him and John 
Dickinson. 

"Dear Sir, — This day Mr. Delaplain, the collector for 
this county, called upon me, and surprised me by saying 
my rate for Christiana Hundred, in which I reside, is, for 
the present year, fifty pounds. As I am taxed for the 
several parts of my estate in the places in which they lie, 
my taxes in Kent County alone for this year amounting to 
two hundred and seven pounds ten shillings, and as 1 have 
no property whatever in this hundred but my household 
goods, — a coach, a sulky, three horses, and a cow, — I 
cannot but consider the rate I have mentioned as unequal 
and unjust. Gentlemen of very considerable estate — to 
mention only Mr. James and Mr. John Lea — are rated, each, 
only at thirty pounds. It cannot be w^itli the least reason 
pretended that my property in this hundred is equal to the 
tenth part of either of theirs. Mr. Delaplain sajs it is a 
shamel'ul inequality, and says that at the utmost I ought 
not to be rated above ten pounds; but he adds that it is too 
late now to appeal for redress this year. He informs me — 
and it is the first information of any kind I have received 
respecting any of my taxes in this county — that the day 
after Christmas is the day of appeal for the next year. I 
beg leave therefore to rely upon your friendship to excuse 
me for giving you a little trouble on this subject. My re- 
quest is that you be so good as to deliver the inclosed letter 
to the gentlemen of the Court of Appeals when they meet, 
and say to them what in your judgment may be thought 
proper on this occasion. 

" 1 have left this letter unsealed, that you may read it. 
" I am, dear sir, your sincere friend, 

"John Dickinson." 



424 LIFE AND COBRESPONDENCE 

To this letter Mr. Read at once replied, as follows : 

" New Castle, 17th December, 1786. 

"Dear Sir, — I have yours of yesterday's date, inclosing 
an address to the Court of Appeals, which I shall deliver, 
but it is a place I seldom grace with my presence, as it may 
properly be styled a court at Dover, in England, I suppose, 
where they are all talkers and no hearers, 

" I am told my son George, who came of age in August 
last, and whose profits by his practice have not enabled 
him to pay for his clothing, and without a shilling of other 
ostensible property, is rated at forty pounds. What will 
be the fate of either rate is difficult to say. 

" There is a bill pending in the General Assembly of the 
State, proposing a list and valuation of taxable property 
and new modelling the Court of Appeals. Whether such 
a provision will take place the ensuing session I cannot say. 
Some alteration in the present form of rating hath long been 
thought necessary. 

"The compliments of my family await yours, and I am, 
with much respect and esteem, 

"Yours, most sincerely, 

"George Read. 

" The Honorable John Dickinson." 

The year 1786 closed upon Mr. Read preparing to attend 
the approaching session of the General Assembly of Dela- 
ware, and hoping by the exertion of his influence to induce 
the election by this body of delegates to the convention 
proposed to meet at Philadelphia in May, 1787. 



APPENDICES TO CHAPTER V. 



Tuesday, February IGth, 1779, Mr. McKean laid before Conp^ress 
the followin<j instnunent, ein]iowerinj? the delegates from the State of 
Delaware to ratify and s\gQ the Articles of Confederation: 

"His Excellency Caesar Rodney, President, Captain-General, and 
Comnuinder-in-Chief of the Delaware State, to all to whom these 
presents shall come, greeting: 

"Know ye, That among the records remaining in the rolls-office of 
the Delaware State there is a certain instrument of writing purporting 
to be an Act of the General Assembly of the said State, which said 
Act is contained in the words and tenor here following, to wit: 

"Anno milesimo septingentesimo septuagesimo nono. 

"An Act to authorize and empower the Delegates of the Delaware 
State to subscribe and ratify the Articles of Confederation and Per- 
petual Union between the several States. 

" Whereas, the Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union between 
the States of New Hampshire, Massachusetts-Bay, Rhode Island and 
Providence Plantation, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsyl- 
vania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, 
and Georgia, signed, in the General Congress of the said States, l)y 
Honorable Henry Laurens, their then President, have been laid before 
the General Assembly of Delaware, to be ratified by the same, if ap- 
proved ; A)hI Whereas, notwithstanding the terms of tlie Articles of 
Confederation and Perpetual Union are considered, in divers respects, 
as unequal and disadvantageous to this State, and the objections stated 
by this State are viewed as just and reasonable, and of great moment 
to the welfare and happiness of the good people thereof, yet, under the 
full conviction of the present necessity of acceding to the confederac}' 
proposed, and that the interest of particular States ought to be post- 
poned to the general good of union, and moreover, in full reliance 'that 
the candor and justice of several States will in due time remove, as far 
as possible, the objectionable .parts thereof, 

'' Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Delaware, and it is 
hereby enacted by the authority of the same, That John Dickinson, 
Nicholas Van Dyke, and Thomas McKean, Delegates elected to re])re- 
sent this State in Congress, or any one or more of them, be and they 
are hereby authorized, empowered, and directed, on behalf of this State, 
to subscribe and ratify the said Articles of Confederation antl Perpetual 
Union between the several States aforesaid. And be it further enacted 
by the authority aforesaid, [That] the said Articles of Confederation 

28 ( 425 ) 



426 LIFE AND COBRESPONDENCE 

and Perpetual Union, so as aforesaid subscribed and ratified, shall 
thenceforth become obligatory upon this State. 

" Nicholas Van Dyke, 

''Speaker \_of Council^. 
" Thomas Collins,* 

''Si^eaker [q/ House']. 
" Signed by order of the Council. 
"Passed at Dover, February 1st, ltt9. 

"All which, by the tenor of these presents, I have caused to be ex- 
emplified. In testimony whereof, the great seal of the Delaware State 
is hereto affixed, at Dover, the 6th day of Fel)ruary, 1779, and in the 
third year of the independence of the United States. 

" C-<ESAR Rodney. 

"By his Excellency's command, 
[seal.] "James Booth, Secretary.^^ 



COURT OF APPEALS IN ADMIRALTY CASES. 

Congress established, by resolution, 15th January, 1780, a court for 
the trial of all appeals from the Courts of Admiralty in the United 
States, in case of capture, to consist of three judges, appointed and 
commissioned by Congress, either two of whom, in the absence of the 
other, to hold a court for the dispatch of business, — the said court to 
appoint their own registrar. The trial in this court to be according to 
the usage of nations, and not by jury. The first session of the court to 
be as soon as might be, at Philadelphia, and its future sessions at such 
times and places as the judges shall consider most conducive to the 
public good, but never farther eastward than Hartford, Connecticut, or 
southward than Williamsburg, Virginia. The salaries of these judges 
w^ere fixed, but not till September 15th, 1780, at twenty-two hundred and 
fifty dollars each per annum. On the 22d of January, 1780, Congress 
elected, by ballot, Messrs. Wythe, Paca, and Hosmer, judges of this court. 
On the 8th of February Mr. Paca accepted, and Mr. Hosmer, April 12th, 
and Mr. Wythe declined the appointment thus conferred, and on the 
28th of April Mr. Cyrus Griffin, of Virginia, was elected, in his room, 
who accepted, provided his constituents (he being a delegate to Con- 
gress) should approve of his so doing. On the 17th November, 1783, 
Mr. Paca, " having been promoted to the government of Maryland," 
resigned his Admiralty judgeship, and in the same month Congress 
was informed of the death of Mr. Hosmer, and on the 5th of December, 
according to their previous order, elected John Lowell and George 
Read, in their room, the former having been nominated by Mr. Osgood 
and the latter by Mr. Fitsinimons. — Journah of Congress, published 
at Philadelphia, by authority of Congress, ad. 1800, vol. vi. pp. 10, 
12, 18; ibid.,\o\. viii. p. 21. "^Congress, 9th February, 1786, "fully im- 



* See Appendix E. 



OF GEORGE READ. 



427 



pressed with a sense of the ability, fidelity, and attention of the judpjes 
of the Court of Appeals, in the discharg'e of the duties of their olfice, 
resolved that, as the war was at an end, and the business of the 
court in a great measure done away, their salaries should cease." — 
Journal of Congress, vol. xi. p. 25. But claimants of vessels, in the 
Court of Admiralty, having petitioned (-ongress for hearings and re- 
hearings, or new trials, this body, 2Yth June, 1780, resolved "that the 
Court of Appeals should grant reheariiigs or new trials in all cases 
where justice should require it, provided the order for the same shall 
not susi>end the execution of the first sentence in such case, unless the 
party in whose favor it is gives security for payment of such costs and 
damages as the court, on a rehearing, may award." It was further re- 
solved "that the judges of said court should be entitled to ten dollars 
for every day of their attendance on the same, and while travelling to 
and from the place of its session, and should meet for dispatch of 
business at New York, the first Monday of November, 1786." — Journal 
of Congress, vol. xi. pp. 87, 88. This court must have expired with 
the Confederacy, as there was no repeal of the resolution which estab- 
lished it, I believe, having failed to discover any resolve, repealing it, 
in the Journal of the Continental Coucrress. 



O 1. 

STATE OF THE POLLS FOR NEW CASTLE COUNTY, 
GENERAL ELECTION, 1st OCTOBER, 1785. 



COUNCILLOR. 



♦George Read 1062 

John Clark 299 

Alexander Porter . ... 72 

Thomas May 50 

Peter Hyatt 12 



Joshua Clayton 4 

Isaac Grantham 1 

David Finney 1 

John Crawford 1 

Joseph Stedham 1 



♦Gunning Bedford 
♦Jacob Broom . 
♦Thomas Duff . 
♦John Garrett . 
♦Peter Hyatt . 
♦Joshua Clayton 
♦William Clark 
Alexander Porter 
John Crawford 
John James 
Thomas May . 
Isaac ( I rant ham 
James Gibl)on3 
Henry Latimer 



ASSEMBLYMEN. 



1282 
1118 

1067 
1013 
1004 
793 
735 
734 
684 
636 
516 
303 
217 
198 



John Lea 76 

Alexander Reynolds . . .27 

William McCfay 24 

Daniel Charles Heath ... 15 

John Hyatt 13 

John Yining 10 

Isaac Alexander 6 

Isaac Lewis 6 

John Clark 4 

James Black 4 

Moses McKnight .... 2 
Christian Van Degrift ... 2 
William Robeson .... 2 
Thomas Watson 1 



* Elected. 



428 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 



SHERIFF. 



*Thomas Kean (Commiss^d) 519 
Samuel Smith 521 



William McKennan . . .518 
James Dunn 129 



CORONER. 



*John Stockton {Commiss^d) 681 

John Enos 435 

Samuel P. Moore .... 42T 

Thomas Glenn 198 

Isaac Devou 166 



Robert Montgomery . . . 152 
John Fitsimmous .... 135' 
William Bracken .... 55 
William Elliott ..... 46 
John Herdman ..... 4 



C 2. 
NOTICE OF JOHN READ. 

John Read, fourth son of George Read, a signer of the Declaration 
of Independence, was born in New Castle, in the State of Delaware, 
July 7th, 1769. He graduated at Nassau Hall, New Jersey, in 1787, 
— the celebrated Dr. Witherspoon being president. He was, after the 
usual time of study of law, admitted to the bar, and removing to the 
city of Philadelphia, practised there for many years, winning universal 
confidence and respect by unwavering integrity in all the relations of 
life, by his devotion to business, and urbane manners. 

He married, in 1796, Martha, oldest daughter of Samuel Meredith, 
brother-in-law of George Clymer, a signer of the Declaration of Inde- 
pendence. These gentlemen were prominent merchants for many 
years in Philadelphia, and ardent and active Whigs during the Revo- 
lutionary war. Clymer was also a member of the convention that 
framed the Constitution of the United States, and Meredith first treas- 
urer of the Federal government. Mrs. Read's mother was a daughter 
of Colonel Thomas Cadwallader, and sister of General John Cadwalla- 
der ; and her brother-in-law, General Philemon Dickinson, commanded 
the militia of New Jersey at the battle of Monmouth, and John Dickin- 
son was her cousin. 

In 1797 President Adams conferred on Mr. Read the office of Agent- 
General of the United States for British Debts, which he filled ably and 
faithfully through Jefferson's administration (John Dickinson having 
urged his being retained in this post), and until it terminated. 

Mr. Read served for some time in the Councils of Philadelphia. In 
1815 and 1816 he was elected a member of the Pennsylvania House of 
Representatives, and appointed a member of the Committee on Roads 
and Inland Navigation, and during the session of that body, in 1816, 
was attacked by an illness almost fatal. His wife hastened to his bed- 
side, and, M'hile assiduously nursing him, fell also sick, and soon after 
died. He did not again marry. He was elected to the Senate of Penn- 
sylvania in 1816, — while serving in the House of Representatives, soon 
after he recovered from the sickness which so bli2:hted his domestic 



* Elected. 



OF GEOEGE READ. 429 

happiness, — to fill the vacancy caused by Nicholas BiiMIe's rcsij^na- 
tion, and soon after appointed a State director in Philadelphia Bank. 

In 1817 Mr. Read received the appointment of Solicitor of the city 
of Philadelphia, and in 1819 that of President of the Philadelphia 
Bank, which he held, with characteristic ability and fidelity, till he re- 
signed it in 1841. 

Mr. Head removed in 1841 to Trenton, New Jer.5ey, where he re- 
sided in retirement from secular business, but (in connection with St. 
Michael's Parish), as before, an active, wise, and liberal churchman, 
adorning' by a consistent life his Christian profession. In July, 1854 
(loth), he departed this life, having attained the patriarchal age of 
eighty-five years. 

His only surviving daughter died 13th March, 1854, and, beside the 
decease of several of his children in their infancy, he was bereaved by 
death of his second son, Henry Meredith, who, having graduated in the 
University of Pennsylvania and studied medicine, died, after a short 
illness, soon after be began to practice, with very flattering prospects of 
success. 

Mr. Road, at an early period of his life a communicant of the Prot- 
estant Episcopal Church, was, for many years, a vestryman and warden 
of Christ, and then of St. James's, Church, Philadelphia, having taken 
an active part in building it, and generally in the affairs of the church. 
He was of middle size and well made, and his features regular ; he 
was modest, and remarkably discreet and prudent, singularly temperate 
in eating and drinking, and seldom failed daily to take much exercise 
in the open air. 

The writer of this "sketch," returning from the General Convention 
of the Protestant Episcopal Church, held at Cincinnati in 1850, was in- 
troduced to the Bishop of AYestern New York, who asked, "Are you 
related to Mr. John Read, of Philadelphia?" Upon replying "yes," 
the bishop added, " Give me your hand, sir: Mr. Read was one of my 
dearest friends." Dr. Delancy, previously to his elevation to the epis- 
copate, was assistant minister of Christ, St. Peter's, and St. James's 
Churches, Philadelphia, and rector, after the union of these churches 
was dissolved, of St. Peter's. 

The only surviving child of Mr. Read is the Honorable John Mere- 
dith Read, for many years one of the eminent members of the Phila- 
delphia bar, and elected, by the great majority of twenty-six thousand 
nine hundred and eighty-five votes, one of the judges of the Supreme 
Court of Pennsylvania, and his sou. General John M. Read, Jr., is 
United States Consul-General at Paris. 



430 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 

ID. 

STATE OF DELAWARE. 

In the House of Assembly, June 15, 1T86. 

Whereas, Official information has been received that the States of 
Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Virginia have passed 
resolutions appointing certain persons thei'ein named as commissioners 
on the part of those States to meet such commissioners as may be ap- 
pointed by the other States in the Union for the purpose of taking into 
consideration the trade of the United States, and to report such an act 
relative thereto as will best promote the interest of the United States ; 
and this State being willing to co-operate with them in so laudable and 
useful a measure, 

Resolved, That the Honorable George Read, Esqr., Jacob Broom, 
Esqr., John Dickinson, Esqr., Richard Bassett, Esqr , and the Honorable 
Gunning Bedford, Esqr. be, and they are hereby, appointed coiiimis- 
sioners on the part of this State, who or any three of them may act, to 
meet such other commissioners as may have been or shall be appointed 
by the other States, at Annapolis, on the first Monday in September next, 
for tiie purpose of considering the trade of the United States, to examine 
the relative situations and trade of the said States, to consider how far 
an uniform system in their commercial regulations ma,y be necessary to 
their common interest and permanent harmony, and to report to the 
United States in Congress assembled such an act relative to this great 
object as, when agreed to by them and confirmed by the Legislature of 
every State, will enable the United States in Congress assembled effect- 
ually to provide for the same. 

Resolved, That his Excellency the President be requested to give 
notice to the Supreme Executives of the several States in the Union 
of the concurrence of this State in the measures proposed by the States 
of Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Virginia for the pur- 
poses aforesaid. 

Resolved, That each of the commissioners aforesaid shall receive the 
same allowances for their time and services in the discharge of the 
duties aforesaid as are made by this State to their delegates in Congress 
by the resolution of the fifth day of November last, and the same shall 
be drawn for and paid in like manner. 

Sent for concurrence. In the Council, June 23d, 1796. Read, con- 
sidered, and agreed to. 

Tiio. McDoNOUGii, Speaker. 
Extract from the Minutes. 

James Booth, Clerk of Assembly. 



OF GEORGE READ. 431 



THOMAS COLLINS. 

"0\ Sunday, March 29th. 1789, at his seat at Belmont, near the vil- 
lacre of Duck Creek Cross-Roads, in the county of Kent, departed this life 
Thomas Collins, Esquire, President, Captain-General, Governor, and 
Commander-in-Chief of the State of Delaware, aged fifty-seven years; 
and on Tuesday, the 31st, his remains were resj)ectfully inhumed in 
an ancient place of sepulture belonginj^ to his family, the pall being 
borne by our Representative in ConQ,-ress, the Privy Council, and the 
Judjres of the Court of Common Pleas, followed by a very numerous 
concourse of his afflicted and synipathizino^ fellow-citizens, where a 
discourse highly adapted to this melancholy occasion was delivered by 
the Rev. Mr. Roe, pastor of the united parishes of Christ Church and 
St. Peter's. 

"Mr. Collins descended from Enjj:lish ancestors, who settled early in 
this country, and bestowed upon him all the learninir that was to be 
acquired in tho.se times; and though he never enjoyed the benefits of a 
liberal or collegiate education, yet a thirst after knowledge, joined to a 
strong natural and masculine understanding, assisted by an intense appli- 
cation to business, sufficiently atoned for that want, and counterbalanced 
that fortuitous desideratum. The easy aft'ability of his temper, added to a 
benevolence of soul, soon endeared him to his countrymen, and secured 
the affections of the majoritv of his fellow-citizens, by whose suffrages 
he was elected to the office of High Sheriff of Kent County, a post at 
that early period of considerable honor and advantage, in the execution 
of which, for the term of nearly four years, he acquitted himself with 
zeal, reputation, and integrity, to the entire satisfaction of his constitu- 
ents. After the expiration of that term, he was successively delegated 
to the important trust of a legislator until the late memorable Revo- 
lution. 

"Upon the general dissolution of the old government in 1776, he was 
appointed one of the Council of Safety for tlie Delaware State, the only 
executive power then in l)eing, and afterwards was chosen a meml)er of 
the convention for the i)urpose of framing a new constitution, under the 
authority and auspices of Congress. His next appointments were to the 
chief command of one of the first regiments of militia and military treas- 
urer for the State. On the promotion of the late Governor Rodney to 
the rank of a major-general, Mr. Collins succeeded to the command of the 
county brigade. In the beginning of the year 1777 General Collins headed 
his native militia to the camp and head-(|uarters at Morristown, New 
Jersey, and endured, in common with his fellow-soldiers, all the fatigue 
and hardship of that memorable campaign. During the same year, 
when the troops under the conduct of General Sir William Howe passed 
through the upper part of New Castle Count}'', he commanded a small 
army of observation and picket on the lines of the ALiryland and Dela- 
ware States, and was opposed as a covering corps against the Germans, 
under Lieutenant-General the Baron Knyphausen, and so hung upon 



432 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 

their flank and rear that he effectually secured the country below from 
the ravages of these mercenary marauders ; all these military services 
beins: performed at his own private cost, without any charge or expense 
to the government. 

" He was successively elected to the House of General Assembly and 
the Legislative Council, of which last he was chosen Speaker, and con- 
tinued as such until removed to the office of Chief Justice of the Court 
of Common Pleas ; and from thence, as a full and complete remuneration 
for his many past faithful services, he was finally, and by the unanimous 
voice of both Houses of Assembly, exalted to the presidency and supreme 
command of the State of Delaware. In this last eminent situation on 
this pinnacle of civil preferment he lived without pride, governed with 
ability, abstracted from oppression, and died with composure and resig- 
nation, beloved, regretted, and lamented by all honest men. The ur- 
banity of his soul was manifested in the whole tenor of his actions, — 
not only benevolent in theory, but abundantly beneficent in practice, — 
his private bounties keeping pace with his public donations. As a mem- 
ber of the Protestant Episcopal Church, he evidenced the sincerity of 
his attachment to that denomination of Christians in [the] building St. 
Peter's Church, at Duck Creek, towards which he was the chief and 
principal contributor. Yet notwith.standing his predilection to the 
Church of England and its professors, the Catholicism of his sentiments 
embraced all mankind in the affectionate circle of charity and fraternal 
regard. Though his salary as commander-in-chief was not considerable, 
yet he resigned the emoluments arising from marriage and tavern 
licenses (being part of that salary), equal to the yearly interest of nine 
or ten thousand pounds, to the use of the State, to be applied to such 
pul)lic and benevolent purposes as the Legislature should think proper. 
This generous abdication of lucre is unprecedented among our American 
governors, and was never surpassed but in the conduct of our late 
worthy general and commander-in-chief — the most illustrious President 
of the United States. 

" Rest, then, in the bosom of everlasting peace, thou upright governor, 
disinterested patriot and statesman, — thou kind husband, thou most 
affectionate, indulgent father and gentle master ; and while thy loss is 
lamented, in all the bitterness of human anguish, by a youthful sou and 
three amial)le daughters, let them wipe off the tear of filial regard and 
dry the torrent of unutterable sorrow, and in consolation remember that 
the beloved parent, who now sleeps in the dust, and whose kind indul- 
gences they shall never again experience, has by a series of industrious 
pursuits, governed by the strictest rules of honor and probity, left them 
in jjossession of a patrimony superior to their wants and beyond the 
reach of adversity." — From the Delaware Gazette, a paper published at 
Wilmington, Delaware, vol. iv. No. 202, Saturday, May 2d, 1789. 



OF GEORGE READ. 433 

NOTICE OF PR. WITIIERSPOOX. 

Dr. Alkxander Carlisle, minister of Inveresk, in hi.s interestinjr 
Autobiofi^raphy, pp. 25, 2(), 55, thu.s notices him : 

"I was sent to tlie collo.ije of Edinburgh, November 1st, 1735. I 
was in a boarding-house where was very good company. John Wither- 
spoon, the celel)rated doctor, was also in the house. Ilis future life and 
public character are well known. At the time I speak of he was a good 
scholar, far advanced for his age, very sensible and shrewd, but of a 
disagreeable temper, which was irritated by a flat voice and awkward 
manner, which ])revenied his making the impression on his com|)aiiions, 
of either sex, which was at all adequate to his abilities. This defect 
when he was a lad stuck to him when he grew up to manhood, and so 
much rcmsed his envy and jealou.sy as made him take a road to distinc- 
tion very different from that of his more successful companions." 

Carlisle further writes that he used to accompany Witherspoon in 
visits to his father, a clergyman residing at Gifibrd Hall, when they 
were wont to pass the day in fishing, to be out of the way of the father, 
who was very sulky and tyrannical, but much given to gluttony, and in 
bed always at nine, and fat as a porpoise : was not to be awakened, so that 
they had three or four hours every night to amuse themselves with the 
daughters of the house and their cousins. This John loved of all things, 
and far more when he returned Carlisle's visits, and had more com- 
panions of the fair sex and no restraint from an austere father ; so that 
Carlisle always considered the austerity of manner and aversion to 
society which he assumed afterwards as the arts of hypocrisy and am- 
bition, for he liad a strong and enlightened understanding, far above 
enthusiasm, and a temper that did not seem liable to it. 

It was believed by some persons that Dr. Nesbit, President of Dick- 
inson College, Carlisle, Pennsylvania, was the son (filius nothus) of 
Witherspoon, to whom he bore a striking resemblance in features, but 
was unlike him in person and temper. Any likeness between their 
sentiments and public appearances might be accounted for by the great 
admiration for Witherspoon of Nesbit, who was bred up in his parish, 
under his eye. Nesbit was a man of some learning and ability, which 
he disi)layed with little judgment in the Assembly. lie was in point of 
learning well qualified for the presidency of Dickinson College, l)ut 
became miserable, because he could not return to Scotland, — a striking 
case of nostalgia. 

A lady, to whom Dr. Witherspoon was showing his garden, said, 
"You have an excellent garden, but no Jioicersy "No, madam," said 
he, "neither in my garden nor in my discourse." — B log ra phi/ of the 
Signers of the Declaration of Independence, vol. ii. p. 257. 



434 LIFE AND GOBRESFONDJSNGE 



CHAPTER VI. 

State of public affairs, feelings, and opinions at the beginning of 1787, a? to 
powers proper to be delegated the gen'^ral government ; how it could be 
amendf'd ; ungranted lands ; and votes of the States in the National Legisla- 
ture — Madison's letters from New York — Western posts, and navigation of 
the Mississippi — Monarchy advocated — Mr Read's letters to Mr Dickin'^on ; 
approaching session of Delaware Legislature ; his opinion that the Delaware 
delegates should be inhibited from giving up her equal vote — Delegates ap- 
pointed, Mr. Read one of them, with the advised restriction; wisdom of it 
afterwards apparent— Compromise of the claims of the States as to their votes 
in the National Legislature — Anecdotes of Gouverneur Morris — Letter of Jacob 
Broom — Slow arrival of delegates to the Convention at Philadelphia — Want 
of facilities of travel — Letter from Mr Read, in Philadelphia, to Mr Dickin- 
son — His siccount of a proposed plan of a national government — Suspicions of 
intentit)ns of large States towards the smaller ones dangerous to them — Con- 
vention organizes ; Washini^ton elected President, and Jackson secretary — Pro- 
ceeds at once to business — Randolph's plan of a new Constitution; debates in 
Committee of the Whole on this plan — Great warmth on the question, " What 
should be the rule of suffrage in the Federal Legislature?" — Decisions against 
the suialler States in the Committee of the Whole — The Jersey plan ; its infe- 
riority to the Virginia one; why preferred by the smaller States — Hamilton 
opposes both plans, and prefers monarchy, but that being impracticable, ad- 
vocates a strong central government — Virginia plan reported to the House, 
considered there, and p)-oportiojinl representation of the State retained — Dissat- 
isfaction and danger of dissolution — Committee of Conference; result — Com- 
promise of pr(jportinnal vote in the House and equal in the Senate — Questions 
as to rule of apportionment of representatives, whether slaves were property 
or not, etc., raised and settled ; proposition agreed to in Committee of the 
Whole, referred to Committee of Detail ; their report — Warm debates as to 
proposed power to pass navigation laws, prohibit taxes on exports and the 
slave-trade : questions thus raised, settled by compromise — Mr. Read's speeches 
in the Convention — Hamilton's plan — Madison's tf'stimony to the puritj' of 
the Convention and devotion to their duty — Signature of the Constitution — 
Note of Mr. Dickinson — Constitution laid before Congress and submitted to 
the States ; violent opposition to it — Constitution first ratified by Delaware — 
Death of Colonel Cantwell ; Mr Read's opinion as to the removal of his 
remains, interring families together, and on private cemeteries, and comment 
on it — State of public affairs and opinions at the beginning of 1788 — In 
most of the States proposed Constitution of the United States under considera- 
tion ; objections to it fallacious — Character of the Constitutional and anti- 
Constitutional parties — Constitution ratified — Vining elected to House of 
Representatives from Delaware, and Bedford, Mitchi^U, and Banning electors 
of President and Vice-President, who vote for Washington and Adams — 
Messrs. Read and Bassett chosen United States Senators for Delaware — letter 
of Mr. Dickinson — Question as to locaticm of the seat of the Federal gov- 
ernment; attendance of Delaware delegates in Congress important on account 
of it — Letter of Major Jackion to Mr. Read — Candidates for secretaryship of 
the S^iate — C. Griffin's letter in favor of J. Livingston — Assault on Mr. Read 
by "Timoleon;" its character; failed in its object — L'^tter of Mr. Dickinson ; 
recommends Colonel Pierce for collectorship of Savannah — Letter of Eilmund 
Randolph recommending Colonel Heth for office — Letter of Samuel Wharton 
— Organization of United States govermcnt delayed hy want of quorums in both 
Houses of Congress — Letter of J. Langdon and others, urging Mr. Read's pres- 
ence at New York — Wm. Bingham recommends Major Jackson for secretary- 



OF GEORGE READ. 435 

ship of Unitod States Senate — Lottor of C. Thomson urpinij Mr. Read's at- 
tendiince in United States Senate — Letter of John Vining — Death of Gover- 
nor Collins— Competitors for governorship of Delaware — Notice of James 
Booth, and his letter to Mr. Read — Quorum of both Houses of Comrrnss ob- 
tained—Election of President and Vice-President declared — Washington's 
election announced to him ; sets cut for New York ; his reception there and 
on his journey ; his inauguration — Notice of J. McIIenry ; his letter in favor 
of Commodore Barney — ]Mr. Read's allotment to class of senators whose seats 
would be vacated in two years — Mr Read asks opinions of ]\ressrs. Dickinson 
and Vining on the hill to establish United States courts — Their letters — Com- 
mon law ; how much of it adopted with the United Slates Constitution — Letter 
of John Penn ; confides his affairs in Delaware to ]Mr. Read — Notice of John 
Penn — Competition for United States oflices— District Judgeship of Pennsyl- 
vania, candidates for — Notices of Edward Shijipen — Letters of Moses Levy 
and Edward Tilghman recommending him — Peters appointed — Letter of 
Mr. Dickinson, pressed for a debt assumed for Delaware — Mr. Read's service 
on Senate committees — Senate adjourns — A day of thank.sgiving recommended 
— Principal bills passed by Congress — Interval between adjournment and 
next se.-^sion devoted by Mr. Read to his family and profession — Appendix 
A, act of Assembly appointing Mr. Read and others delegates to the Conven- 
tion that framed the Constitution of the United States — Appendix B, notice 
of Nicholas Van Dyke — Appendix C, notice of Edmund Randolph — Appendix 
C 2, notice of C Thomson — Appendix D, notice of John Vining — Ap|iendix 
E, notice of Commodore Barney — Appendix F. classification of ITnited States 
Senate — Appendix G, notice of Gunning Bedford — Appendix H, notice of 
Richard Peters and Edward Tilghman. 

None of my countiymen, unless utterly thoughtless, ex- 
changed greetings on New Year's Day, 1787, without 
anxiety. Evils of most grave character were upon them, 
and fears for the future predominated over their hopes of 
more prosperous times. The disease under which the body 
politic was suffering had reached its crisis. Mr. Madison's 
letters'-' in the winter and spring of 1787 enable me, in 
some degree at least, to feel as that patriot felt and to think 
as he thought, as he noted fluctuations of opinion and events 
as they occurred, favorable or unfavorable to the succes.s of 
the contemplated convention of that year. His position, 
that of member of Congress, sitting in New York, was at a 
point where streams of intelligence converged from all the 
States. Diverse were the opinions upon the great measure 
everywhere the subject of thought and discussion. Some 
believed that unless recommended by Congress it must fail, 
while others were persuaded that this sanction would defeat 
it, so rampant was State jealousy of Federal power. Some 
were for amending the Articles of Confederation ; others 
for substituting a new system of government. The wisest 
citizens, profiting by bitter experience of the want of a 
central power to regulate matters of general concernment, 

* Madison Papers, vol. ii. pp. 615, 682, passim. 



436 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 

foreign relations, commerce, internal and foreign revenue, 
and posts, for example, had even struck out the great feat- 
ures of the Constitution of the United States. To whom 
belongs the merit of the first conception of the outlines of 
this Constitution is doubtful.* Wherever there has been a 
great want the remedy for it has often suggested itself, with 
more or less clearness, simultaneously to several men, dis- 
tant from each other, and without interchange of thoughts 
on the subject. Hence controversies have not been infre- 
quent in regard to claims to the merit of originating inno- 
vations in government or improvements in arts that have 
augmented the comfort and wealth and with them the 
intelligence and virtue of nations. The States were reluc- 
tant to relinquish power, and distrustful of the depositories 
of it should it be delegated. The small States felt that 
their existence would be endangered if they yielded the 
equality of vote in the national government, which they 
claimed, and which the larger States denounced as so unjust 
and unreasonable that they could never admit it. Opinions 
were various as to the powers which ought to be delegated 
to the general government. Some favored consolidation ; 
others such a retention of power hj the States as was 
incompatible with a vigorous or indeed any national gov- 
ernment. The States that were importers for contiguous 
States selfishly wished to retain the advantage they enjoyed 
of raising revenue on merchandise, which their neighbors, 
wanting ports, were compelled to receive through their 
merchants. New Jersey, between Pennsylvania and New 
York, and North Carolina, between Virginia and South 
Carolina, were felicitously compared to " a hogshead tapped 
at both ends," or " a patient bleeding at both arms." There 
was another source of strife in the question to whom be- 
longed the ungranted or crown lands, claimed by the States 
within whose boundaries they were situated, and for this 
reason and as pertinaciously by other States as the common 
property, because wrested from the British sovereign by the 
blood, and money, and sacrifices of all. No one looked 
with the least respect to Congress, or faintest hope of relief 
from its measures. Its requisitions were treated with silent 

* Curtis's History of the Constitution of the United States, vol. i.; 
Madison Papers, vol. ii. pp. 632, 633. 



OF GEORGE READ. 437 

contempt. No provision could be made for the sacred debt 
of the war just gloriously terminated, while honest and 
generous men hung their heads in shame when they wit- 
nessed the penury, with all its woes, of the victims of such 
flagrant ingratitude. The Western posts were retained by 
the British, and treaty stipulations for the payment of debts 
due English merchants were disregarded. Our commerce 
was in peril of annihilation by foreign governments, and 
there was no power in Congress to counteract their encroach- 
ments. The South and the Western settlers were disgusted 
and alarmed, and the latter threatened separation because 
of the selfish designs of the Eastern States to purchase 
advantages for their trade by ceding to Spain, for a term of 
years at least, the right claimed by their countrymen to 
navigate the Mississippi. Some men, at least in the East- 
ern States, advocated openly and boldly monarchical gov- 
ernment as the only remedy for existing evils, and, to pave 
the way for it, favored the establishment of two or more 
confederacies. Lawyers argued that the "Articles of Con- 
federation" could only be amended in the mode they pro- 
vided, but it was well replied that it was absurd to interpose 
these articles, powerless for good, as a barrier to the proposed 
attempt to relieve the people from the evils under which 
they were suffering, which, however irregular, was the only 
practicable one, and must be tried then or not at all. The 
hope of reconciling these conflicting opinions was almost 
gone, when the Shay insurrection, overruled by Providence 
for this great good, forced upon those who opposed or hesi- 
tated to approve the proposed convention the conviction 
that this measure could alone avert civil war, which was at 
the door of every State, and State after State elected depu- 
ties to revise their Federal Constitution, and so to amend 
as to make it adequate to the exigencies of government and 
the preservation of the union of the States, until, before 
the spring of 1787, all had chosen them except Rhode 
Island. 

The session of the Delaware Legislature was about to 
commence. The question of the election of deputies to the 
2)roposed convention was to be decided at this session. 
Mr. liead, at this conjuncture, asked, in the following letter 
to his friend John Dickinson, his consideration of the views 
therein submitted to him upon a point of the utmost in- 



438 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 

terest, because of vital importance to the small States of the 
American Confederacy. 

"New Castle, January 17th, 1781. 

"Dear Sir, — Finding that Virginia hath again taken the 
lead in the proposed convention at Philadelphia in May, as 
recommended in our report when at Annapolis, as by an act 
of their Assembly, passed the 22d of November last, and 
inserted in Dunlap's paper of the 15th of last month [ap- 
pears], it occurred to me, as a prudent measure on the part 
of our State, that its Legislature should, in the act of 
appointment, so far restrain the powers of the commission- 
ers, whom they shall name on this service, as that they may 
not extend to any alteration in that part of the fifth article 
of the present Confederation, which gives each State one vote 
in determining questions in Congress, and the latter part of 
the thirteenth article, as to future alterations, — that is, that 
such clause shall be preserved or inserted, for the like pur- 
pose, in any revision that shall be made and agreed to in the 
proposed convention. I conceive our existence as a State 
will depend upon our preserving such rights, for 1 consider 
the acts of Congress hitherto, as to the ungranted lands in 
most of the larger States, as sacrificing the just claims of 
the smaller and bounded States to a proportional share 
therein, for the purpose of discharging the national debt 
incurred during the war; and such is my jealousy of most 
of the larger States, that I would trust nothing to their 
candor, generosity, or ideas of public justice in behalf of this 
State, from what has heretofore happened, and which, I 
presume, hath not escaped your notice. But as I am gen- 
erally distrustful of my own judgment, and particularly in 
public matters of consequence, I wish your consideration of 
the prudence or propriety of the Legislature's adopting such 
a measure, and more particularly for that I do suppose you 
will be one of its commissioners. Persuaded I am, from 
what I have seen occasionally in the public prints and heard 
in private conversations, that the voice of the States will 
be one of the subjects of revision, and in a meeting where 
there will be so great an interested majority, I suspect the 
argument or oratory of the smaller State commissioners will 
avail little. In such circumstances I conceive it will relieve 
the commissioners of the State from disagreeable argu- 
mentation, as well as prevent the downfall of the State, 



OF GEORGE READ. 439 

which [without an eciual vote] would at once become a 
cypher in the union, and have no chance of an accession of 
district, or even citizens; for, as we presently stand, our 
quota is increased upon us, in the requisition of this year, 
more than thirteen-eijihtieths since 1775, without any other 
reason that I can suggest than a promptness in the Legis- 
lature of this State to comply with all the Congress requi- 
sitions from time to time. This increase alone, without 
addition, would in the course of a few years banish many of 
its citizens and impoverish the remainder; therefore, clear 
I am that every guard that can be devised for this State's 
protection against future encroachment should be preserved 
or made. I wish your opinion on the subject as soon as 
convenient. 

'* I am pressed from divers quarters to give an early 
attendance at the ensuing session of Assembly, and did say 
to two gentlemen, the other evening, that I would set [out] 
with them early on next Mondaj^, if they would procure a 
stage-wagon for the taking us down. 

" My many absences from home, and the variety of busi- 
nesses I have to attend to, give me little opportunity to 
digest my thoughts well on any of them. My condition is 
that of a common hack, for the use of every one that thinks 
fit to call for it, subjected to much hard treatment and ill 
fed. 

" I had yours by Mr. Lake, who. did not think fit to 
adopt a proposition I suggested to him for the speedy de- 
termination of the dispute between him and James Huston, 
as mentioned by you, which was the submitting the ques- 
tion of law upon the words of the will of a testator, whom 
he admitted they both claimed under, to some gentleman 
of the huv, as from what I knew of the respective claims it 
ought and could be the only legal question. As to submit- 
ting equitable circumstances to those sort of judges [he pro- 
posed], I could not consistently with my own opinion and 
duty advise the measure. I suspect you were only ai)plied 
to on [account of] the supposed influence you might have 
over me. Respect either to you or me influences no further 
than immediate interest leads to — certum est. 

'^ In answer to your questions as to the intestate acts of 
1742 and 1750, there was no intermediate act altering the 
succession to lands of intestates; and by a manuscript ab- 



440 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 

stract I have of the act of 1742 (16th George II.), (my 
printed one being loaned in Kent), where there were no 
children, or legal representatives of such, the moiety of the 
lands were to the widow, for life, and the residue to be 
.equally divided to every the next of kin of the intestate, in 
equal degree, and to those who legally represented them. 
No representatives among collaterals, after brothers and 
sisters' children. This clause is preceded by the following, 
wdiich is properly a part of the one directing the lineal dis- 
tribution, — viz., ' and if any of the children happen to die 
before age, or before marriage, then their portion to be 
divided among the brothers and sisters, or their representa- 
tives.' 

" If you should happen [to have] the Pennsylvania acts 
of the 21st March and 20th September, 1783, respecting 
the payment of interest on unalienated certificates, but par- 
ticularly the first, I shall be obliged to you to send them. 
If no opportunity ofiers here, send them to Mr. Broom, to 
bring them to Dover to me. 

"I am, with much esteem, yours most sincerely, 

" George Kead. 

"The Honorable John Dickinson." 

The General Assembly of Delaware appointed, by an act 
passed 3d February, 1787, George Read, Gunning Bedford, 
John Dickinson, Richard Bassett, and Jacob Broom deputies 
of Delaware to the convention proposed to be held at Phila- 
delphia to revise the Federal Constitution, with the restric- 
tion upon the powder conferred on them suggested by Mr. 
Read in his foregoing letter to John Dickinson.* 

The wnsdom of this restraint w^as afterwards apparent. 
On the 30th May, 1787, the question, "AVhat ought to be 
the right of sufirage in the national government?" came up 
in convention, Mr. Madison having moved " that the rule 
of suffrage established by the Articles of Confederation ought 
not to be the rule in the national legislature. Mr. Read 
moved "that the whole chause relating to the point of rep- 
resentation be postponed, reminding the committee that the 
deputies from Delaware were restrained by their commission 
from' assenting to any change in the rule of sufirage, and 

* Appendix A. 



OF GEORGE READ. 441 

in case of such cliange it might become their duty t(j retire 
from the convention." Mr. Gouverneur Morris'-' replied 
"that the vahiMble assistance of tliese members could not 
be lost without real concern, and that so early a })roof of 
discord in the convention as the secession uf a State would 
add much to the regret ; that the change pro})()sed, however, 
was so fundamental an article in the national govei-nruent 
that it could not be dispensed with." It was finally agreed 
that the subject should be postponed, wMth the understand- 
ing that the proposed change would certainly be agreed to; 
which was not the case, the opposing claims of the States, 
equally divided upon this question, having been settled by 
a compromise establishing in the Constitution of the United 
States the principles of proportional representation of the 
people in the House of Representatives and of equal repre- 
sentation in the Senate of the States, the just rule in a 

* " The self-possession of Gouverneur Morris was so complete that he 
is said to have declared he never knew the sensation of fear, inferiority, 
or eniltarrassment in his intercourse with man." — Curlifi's History of 
the C'onslilution of the United Slntett, vol. i. p. 145. 

]>ut it appears by the following' anecdote, communicated to me by 
Mrs. Susan Eckard, of rhiladelphia, daughter of Colonel James Read, 
that Mr. Morris was once friirhtened, embarrassed, and sensible of 
inferiority in the presence of a fellow-mortal : 

"Gouverneur Morris, a very handsome, bold, and — I have heard the 
ladies say — very impudent man. His talents and services are part of 
American history. He wore a wooden leg. He was not related to the 
great financier, who was said to be a natural child. The office of Mr. 
[Robert] Morris was only divided from papa's by a small entry, and 
was constantly visited by Mr. Gouverneur Morris, and papa's also. One 
day the latter entered, and papa was so struck by his crest-fallen ap- 
pearance that he asked, 'Are you not well ?' He replied, 'I am not, — 
the di'vil got possession of me last night.' ' I have often cautioned you 
against him,' said papa, playfully; 'but what has happened to disturb 
you ?' ' 1 was at the rresidenl's last night ; several members of tiic Cabi- 
net were there. The then absorbing question' ('1 forget,' Mrs. E. writes, 
'what it was') ' was brought up. The President was standing with his 
arms behind him, — his usual position, — his back to the fire, listening. 
Hamilton made a speech I did not like. I started up and spoke, stamp- 
ing, as I walked up and down, with my wooden leg; and, as 1 was 
certain I had the best of the argument, as I finished 1 stalked up to the 
President, slajjped him on the back, and said, "Ain't I right, general ?" 
The President did not speak, but tlie majesty of tiie American people 
was before me. Oh, his look ! How 1 wished the floor would open 
and I could descend to the cellar ! You know me,' continued Mr 
Morris, ' and you know my eye would never quail before any oihei 
mortal.'" 

29 



442 LIFE AND CORBESPONDENCE 

government national and federal. The restriction upon the 
powers of the Delaware members had some influence in 
producing this happy result, and the reference to it by Mr, 
Read w^as the first indication on the floor of the convention 
that extreme pretensions could not prevail,* 

It appears by the following letter from one of Mr. Eead's 
colleagues, that, before the day appointed for the meeting 
of the convention, he had taken lodgings in Philadelphia, 
and was there. 

Saturday evening, eight o'clock, Chester, May 12th, 1787. 

Sir, — I just now alighted at Mrs, Withy's, and sit down 
to inform you that, previous to my leaving Philadelphia, I 
understood that my youngest child (who I left under in- 
oculation) was very ill. — perhaps it is no more so than is 
to be expected in such cases. If there should be no appear- 
ance of danger, I intend seeing you on Monday; otherw^ise, 
perhaps not until Tuesday, when the w^orst of the disorder 
will in all probability be over. A sailor is now here from 
Reedy Island, who says that Captain Strong is arrived 
thither, and that Governor Rutledge, together with several 
other gentlemen, is passenger with him, — perhaps some of 
our gentlemen. By the middle of the week, and not be- 
fore, I expect a sufficient nund)er to proceed to business 
will be assembled. I am, sir, with the greatest respect and 
esteem, your most obedient, humble servant, 

"Jacob Broom. 

"P. S. — General AVashington lodges this night at Wil- 
mington. 

"The Honorable George Read, Esquire, at Mrs. House's, 
Market Street, Philadelphia." 

The delegates arrived slowly at Philadelphia. Journeying 
was tedious, — by packet-boats and stage-wagons; there were 
no turnpikes, and few bridges, and little competition on the 
lines of travel to accelerate it. Let us not, however, forget 
the price for fast travelling, — hecatombs, who annually 
perish by appalling disasters on steamboats and railroads. 
Mr, Read wrote the following letter to his friend, John 
Dickinson, from 

♦Madison Papers, vol. ii. pp. 751, 752, 753, 1107, 1113, 



OF GEORGE READ. 443 

"Philadelphia, May 21st, 1787. 

"Dear Sir, — I have just seen Master Ilieks, who says 
he is to return in a])out an hour. It was ratlier nnhicky 
that you had not given me a hint of your wish to he in a 
lodging-house at an earlier day. Mrs. House's, where I am, 
is very crowded, and the room T am presently in so small 
as not to admit of a second Ijed. That which I had here- 
tofore, on my return from New York, was asked for Gov- 
ernor Randolph, it being then expected he would have 
brought his lady with him, which he did not, but she is 
expected to follow some time hence. 

"•I have not seen Mr. Bassett, being from my lodgings 
when he called last evening. He stopt at the Indian 
Queen, where Mr. Mason, of Virginia, stays, the last of 
their seven deputies who came in. We have now a 
quorum from six States, to wit: South and North Carolina, 
Virginia, Delaware, Pennsylvania, and New York, and 
single deputies from three others, — Georgia, New Jersey, 
and Massachusetts, — wdiose additional ones are hourly ex- 
pected, and also the Connecticut deputies, who have been 
appointed, within the last ten days, by the Legislature 
there. We have no particular accounts from New Hamp- 
shire, other than that the delegates to Congress were ap- 
pointed deputies to this convention. Maryland, you may 
probably have heard more certain accounts of than we who 
are here. Rhode Island hath made no appointment as yet. 

"The gentlemen who came here early, particularly [those 
from] Virginia, that had a quorum on the first day, express 
much uneasiness at the backwardness of individuals in 
giving attendance. It is meant to organize the body as 
soon as seven States' quorums attend. I wish you were 
here. 

"I am in possession of a copied draft of a Federal system 
intended to be proposed, if something nearly similar shall 
not precede it. Some of its principal features are taken 
from the New York system of government. A house of 
delegates and senate for a general legislature, as to the 
great business of tiie Union. The first of them to be 
chosen by the Legislature of each State, in proportion to 
its number of white inhabitants, and three-fifths of all 
others, fixing a number for sending each representative. 
The second, to wit, the senate, to be elected by the dele- 



444 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 

gates so returned, either from themselves or the people at 
large, in four great districts, into which the United States 
are to be divided for the purpose of forming this senate 
from, which, w^hen so formed, is to be divided into four 
classes for the purpose of an annual rotation of a fourth of 
the members. A president having only executive powers 
for seven years. By this plan our State may have a repre- 
sentation in the House of Delegates of one member in 
eighty. I suspect it to be of importance to the small States 
that their deputies should keep a strict watch upon the 
movements and propositions from the larger States, who 
will probably combine to swallow up the smaller ones by 
addition, division, or impoverishment; and, if you have 
any wish to assist in guarding against such attempts, you 
will be speedy in your attendance. "='• 

"Master Hicks is waiting while I write, and I cannot 
proceed to further particulars. 

"I beg my compliments may be presented to Mrs. Dick- 
inson, Miss Sallie, and Mrs. Thompson, who, I am told, is 
with you, and 1 am, with much esteem, 

"Yours sincerely, 

"George Read. 

" Honorable John Dickinson." 

On the 25th day of May, 1787, a quorum of States being 
present by their deputies, the convention was organized by 
the unanimous choice of George Washington for president, 

* There were three parties in the convention. The first desired the 
abolishment of the State governments, and to establish a general gov- 
ernment, monarchical in its nature, but restricted. The second was 
opposed to the annihilation of the State governments, and to a mon- 
archical general government, but favored such a one as would give, as 
they maintained, their rightful power to the large States. But, as the 
smaller held undue weight, the third party held that the delegates were 
restrained by their elections and commissions from recommending any- 
thing beyond such alterations and additions as would make the "Articles 
of Confederation" adequate to the emergencies of government and the 
preservation of the federal union between the States. The first party 
joined the second. Sic scripsit Luther Martin. — Taylor''s New Views 
of the Constitution of the United States, p. 42. 

Delegates of the small States, though preferring a national to a fed- 
eral government, sometimes acted and voted with this third party to 
defeat the second in their scheme of representation according to popu- 
lation, in the proposed national legislature. 



OF GEORGE BEAD. 445 

and the election of Major Jackson as secretary. The dele- 
gates to the convention were eminent for ahility, virtue, 
and experience in public affairs. Many of them had been 
members of the Stajnp-act, or Continental, Congress, and 
some of them of both, and had filled the highest State 
oirices.* They proceeded at once to business. Mr. Ran- 
dolph opened the great business of the convention. After 
stating the difficulties and dangers of the crisis, the defects 
of the "Articles of Confederation," and the provisions of a 
new constitution, which w^ould remedy them, he submitted, 
as its basis, fifteen propositions, which for a fortnight were 
debated in committee of the whole, and amended and re- 
ported to the house, and provided for a house of delegates 
to be chosen by the people for three years, and a senate to 
be elected by the State Legislatures for seven years, the 
meml>ers of both to be apportioned according to the wdiole 
number of free citizens and three-fifths of all other persons; 
to be invested wnth all the powers of the Congress of the 
Confederacy, and additionally to legislate in all cases where 
the States were incompetent or their legislation would im- 
pair the harmony of the Union, — each to have power to 
originate acts, with a negative on all State laws contrary to 
its own, and treaties of the general government; the mem- 
bers of the Legislature of the Union to be paid out of its 
treasury, and incapable of holding offices created during 
their membership and a year after it ceased ; the national 
executive to be a single person, chosen by the national 
legislature, for seven years, ineligible a second time, to ap- 
point to all offices not otherwise provided for, and to have 
a veto on all laws of Congress he returned to it with his 
objections, unless again passed by a three-fourths vote of 
both houses; the national judiciary to consist of a supreme 
court (the judges of which to be appointed by the senate 
and hold office during good behavior) and of such inferior 
tribunals as from time to time might be constituted by the 
Legislature, and their jurisdiction to extend to all cases 
respecting the collection of the national revenue, impeach- 
ment of national officers, and the national harmony; pro- 
vision to be made for the admission of new States into the 



* Mr. Dickinson attended May 2t)tii. — Madison Faper:^, vol. ii. p. T27. 



446 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 

Union, and for the amendment of the national constitution, 
and republican government guaranteed to each State by 
the United States. Tlie right of suffrage, in both houses 
of the national legislature, not according to the rule estab- 
lished jn the Articles of Confederation, but in proportion 
to the whole number of white and other free citizens and 
inhabitants, including those bound to servitude for a term 
of years, and three- fifths of all other perscms not c'ompre- 
hended in the foregoing description, except Indians not 
paying taxes. In the debates in the committee of the 
whole upon Mr. Randolph's plan, or the Virginia plan, 
there had been great difference of opinion in regard to the 
mode of constituting the supreme legislative judiciary and 
executive departments of the proposed new government, 
the weight of the States in them, and the powers to be con- 
fided to them. The debates upon these important subjects 
elicited great ability and political knowledge, and were 
marked by singular moderation, until the question what 
should be the rule of suffrage in both houses of the national 
legislature came up. The greater States claimed a pro- 
portionate, and the smaller ones an equal, vote in both. 
With the former it was a contest for powev^ but with the 
latter for existence. The decision in the committee of the 
whole was against the smaller States, but the votes nearly 
equal. On the 14th of June Mr. Patterson offered the 
Jersey plan, as it was called. It was, as stated by Mr. 
Madison (Madison Papers, vol. ii. pp. 862-3, note), "con- 
cocted by the deputies of New York, New Jersey, Delaware, 
and, perhaps, Mr. Martin, of Maryland, who made with 
them common cause, though on different {principles. Con- 
necticut and New York were against a departure from the 
principle of the confederation, wishing rather to add a few 
new powers to Congress than to substitute a national gov- 
ernment. New Jersey and Delaware were opposed to a 
national government, because its patrons considered a pro- 
portionate representation of the States to be the basis 
of it." 

The New Jersey plan proposed the amendment of the 
Articles of Confederation by conferring on the Federal 
Legislature new powers, — to regulate commerce with the 
States and foreign nations, to raise revenue by imposts, and 
collect by its own authority requisitions of Congress when 



OF GEORGE READ. 447 

not met by the States. This plan proposed a Federal 
Executive, to be plural, an 1 a Federal Judiciary; that acts 
of Congress an 1 treaties made and ratified by the United 
States should be the supreme law, and that if infracted by 
any State or body of men in a State, the Federal Executive 
may employ the power of the Confederated States to compel 
obedience to them. On the 15th of June the New Jersey 
plan was referred to the committee of the whole, and the 
Virginia plan was couimitted, that they might be considered 
together; and thus the question whether a national gov- 
ernment shouKl be established or not was opened anew. 
Mr. Randolph's plan was opposed because it destroyed the 
sovereignty' of the States; but chiefly because the conven- 
tion, it was asserted, had not power to consider and propose 
it. The two plans were ably contrasted. In the first, two 
Houses of Congress, — in the second, one ; representation of 
the people at large the basis of one, the other resting on 
the State Legislatures; the E.xecutive single in one, plural 
in llie other; in the one, a majority of the people of the 
United States must prevail, — in the other a minority might; 
in the one, the national legislature were to make all 
necessary laws, — in the other, a few additional powers were 
given to Congress; in the one, there was a negative on 
unconstitutional State laws, — in the other, coercion ; the 
National Executive could be removed in one by impeach- 
ment, if convicted, — by the other, by a majority of State 
Executives; revision of laws and inferior tribunals in one, 
not in other; jurisdiction in one plan extended to all cases 
affecting the national harmony, in the other to a few cases; 
and the Virginia plan was to be ratified by the people, the 
Jersey by the State Legislatures.* It was truly urged that 
as the convention concluded nothing, it might propose any- 
thing, and that any defect of power in the convention 
would be cured by the ratification by the people. The 
superiority of the Virginia plan over the New Jersey project 
is so evident that I have no doubt it was true, as tauntingly 
charged, that the smaller States supported it merely be- 
cause of the equality of vote it secured them. New York 
was, it is very prob ible, antifederal. Hamilton opposed 
both plans, and preferred monarchy. Admitting the im- 



* Madison Papers, vol. ii. p. 872. 



448 LIFE AND CORBESPONDENGE 

practicability of making the British form of government 
our model, on account of the manners, laws, and way of 
thinking of his countrymen, equality of property, absence 
of entails, primogeniture, and a nobility, he thought a na- 
tional government could be formed strong enough to reduce 
the State governments vs^ithin the limits necessary to it« 
answering its ends and its permanency. On the 15th of 
June it was resolved in the committee of the whole tbat 
the Virginia plan was the preferable one, and should be 
reported to the House, — in other words, the Jersey plan was 
rejected (Madison Papers, vol. ii. p. 904). Each article was 
reconsidered, many alterations proposed, and some of them 
adopted ; but, after an animated debate, the proportional 
representation in the House of Representatives was re- 
tained. The States Rights Party then exerted all their 
ability to secure an equal vote in the Senate; a motion to 
this effect was lost, and they were so disgusted and so 
hopeless that they were on the verge of withdrawing from 
the convention. To prevent this disastrous step a commit- 
tee of conference of one from each State was appointed, to 
meet in three days. In this committee Franklin success- 
fully offered the amendment that in the lower House there 
should be representation in proportion to population, and 
that money bills should there originate, and the States have 
in the Senate an equal vote. This committee reported July 
5th. The smaller States hailed this report as a triumph, 
but the larger ones assailed it, because fatal to the predom- 
inancy they could only secure by carrying their darling 
measure of proportionate vote in both Houses of the National 
Legislature; but the report was adopted July 7th.* To 



* "Mr. Dickinson said to Mr. Madison: 'See the result of pushing 
things too far. Some of the members from the smaller States wish for 
two branches of the National Legislature, and are friends to a good 
National government; but we would sooner submit to a foreign power 
than submit to be deprived of an equal vote in both branches and 
thereby brought under the dominion of the larger States.' " — MadLnon 
Fape7-s, vol. ii. p. 863. 

" Franklin's suggestion, it has been said [T think truly], prevented 
the dissolution of the convention without framing a constitution, and to 
it we owe the wonderful fact that no ill feeling has ever existed in a 
State growing out of the fact of its superiority or inferiority of popu- 
lation and importance. Rhode Island and Delaware, Pennsylvania and 
New York, were thus made equal members of the same confederacy, 



OF GEORGE BEAD. 449 

this question, so wisely and happily settled by compromise, 
iinnu'diately succeeded others, as important, excitinj^-, and 
dillicult of settlement to the satisfaction of all the States. 
What should be the number of representatives in the lower 
House, and should it be invariable ? Should new States be 
admitted into the Union on the same footing as the old? 
Should wealth be represented or people ? The rule of ap- 
portionment — wealth and numbers — was questioned as 
vague. Negroes, it was asserted, were merely property, 
and so treated at the South, where citizens had no addi- 
tional votes for their slaves; and if not represented in the 
slave States, why should they be in the National Legisla- 
ture? Wealth, it was answered, was increased by the labor 
of slaves, who ought to be represented in a government 
established chiefly to protect property. Upon what ground, 
it was asked, were three-fifths of the slaves to be repre- 
sented ? If as citizens, why not all? if as property, why 
not other property? It was urged the commercial States 
could not justly expect the advantages they anticipated 
from the Union, unless they gave the South equivalents. 
When a strong disposition was manifested to nllow no 
representation for slaves, Mr. Davie declared the Southern 
States would not confederate unless at least three-fifths of 
them should be represented. Then the proposition was 
made to count the blacks equally with the whites and lost, 
and then the three-fifths ratio finally adopted. The in- 
terests not only of slaveholders and non-slaveholders came 
in conflict, but those of the Western and Atlantic States, 
and of planters and merchants. The qualification of the 
age of Conirressmen and their term of service were fixed, 
and the proposed veto of Congress on unconstitutional 
State laws wisely rejected, because impracticable. The 
propositions as to the ineligibility of the Executive for a 
second term, period of service, and mode of choosing him 
were much discussed and elicited differing opinions, and 
were at last brought to the provisions of the Constitution 
on these points.* 

without peril to the smaller and without injustice to the larger. Of all 
political expedients this was perhaps the happiest ever devised. Its 
success has been ])erfect, — so much so that scarcely any one has re- 
marked it, unconscious of its working', as a healthy man is of digestion." 
— P(irlon''ii Life of Franklin, vol. ii. pp. 575, 576. 
* Madison's Papers, ii. p. 1187. 



450 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 

The report of the committee of the whole, thus amended 
by the House and adopted, was referred to a committee of 
detail, to prepare and report a constitution in conformity 
thereto, July 24 th. This committee in ten days made a 
report, so nearly approximating the Constitution of the 
United States that I need not note the points of their dis- 
crepancy. Bu\. there were some new provisions reported, 
which, when debated, had deepW stirred the convention. 
These were that Congress should not pass navigation laws,* 
without the assent of two-thirds of the members present in 
each session, or haws for the prohibition of taxes on exports 
and the abolishment of the shive-trade. But happily ex- 
treme views were harmonized by compromise. No restric- 
tion was imposed on the power to regulate commerce, and 
taxes on exports were prohibited, as required by the 
Southern and Middle States, while it was conceded to the 
South that the slave-trade should not be abolished for 
twenty years; and to reconcile the anti-slaveholding party 
to this concession, it was provided that a tax might be laid 
on each shive imported, not, however, to exceed ten dollars. 
Tiie three compromises, to which we owe the Constitution 
of the United States, — were, first, the equal representation 
of the States in the Senate, — a concession to the smaller 
States; second, the counting three-fifths of the slaves in 
determining the ratio of representation*]" (the consideration 
for which was the relinquishment of the restriction of the 
power to pass navigation laws) ; and, third, the continuing, 
for twenty years, the slave-trade : and the wisdom and 
patriotism which prompted them deserve the full amount 
of praise they have received. By the 10th of September 
all the provisions reported to the convention were debated 
and passed upon, and the Constitution of the United States 
adopted. Referred to a committee to settle its arrangement 
and style, it came from their hands to be the just object of 
admiration as a model in both these particulars; and the 



* The slave States were hostile to iiavi^-ation laws, because they 
feared New Engiand, excludinjx. l)y large tonuaufe duties, foreigu vessels 
from tlieir ports, would seeure the monopoly of their carrying' trade. 

f For which concession to the South the provision that direct taxes 
should he apportioned according to representation was the considera- 
tion, but more a[)parent than real, because the national revenue would 
generally be derived from imposts. 



OF GEORGE READ. 451 

convention, liavin*]; completed the great work confided to 
them, adjourned, finally, September ITtli, 17S7. 

To the foregoing summary of the proceedings of the con- 
vention, which Mr. Read's membership of this body, it ap- 
peared to me, made necessary, I think it proper to add his 
speeches, as preserved in Mr. Madison's Report of the De- 
bates of the Convention, my object being to present to my 
readers his o|)inions expressed in that assembly. " But 
views," says Mr. Madison, "were often presented with a 
latent reference to compromise on some middle grouhd" 
(Malison Papers, ii. p. 717); and says Hamilton (Letter to 
Colonel Pickering, Pitkin's History of the United States, vol. 
ii. p. 259, note) , " Neither propositions thrown out for debate, 
nor even those voted in the earlier stages of the proceedings 
of the convention, were considered evidence of a definitive 
opinion in the proposer or voter." 

" Mr. Read. Too much attachment is discovered to the 
State governments. We must look beyond their continu- 
ance. A national government must soon, of necessity, 
swallow them up. They will soon be reduced to the mere 
oihce of electing the national senate. He was against 
patching up the old Federal system. It would be like put- 
ting new cloth upon an old garment. The Confedeiation 
was founded on temporary principles. It cannot last — 
it cannot be amended. If we do not establish a new govern- 
ment on good principles, we must either go to ruin, or have 
the woik to do over again. The people at large are wrong- 
fully suspected of being averse to a general government. 
The aversion lies among interested men who possess their 
confidence." — Madison Papers, vol. ii. p. 807. 

"On the question of extending the negative of the national 
Legislature to all laws of the States they should jud^e im- 
jDroper, Mr. Read and Mr. Dickinson aye, Messrs. Bassett 
and Bedford nor— Ibid., p. 828. 

" Mr. Read favors Mr. Gerry's proposition to restrain the 
Senate from issuing money-bills, but would not extend the 
restraint to amendments." — Ihid., p. 857. 

" Mr. Read moves that the senators should hold their 
seats during good behavior. Mr. R. Morris seconds him." — 
Ibid., p. 960. 

'"' Mr. Read moves that the term of senators be nine years. 
This would admit of a very convenient rotation, one-third 



452 LIFE AND COBBESPONDENCE 

going out triennially. He would still prefer 'good be- 
havior,' but being little supported in this idea, he was 
willing to take the longest term that could be obtained." — 
Ihid., p. 962. 

'' Mr. Read wished it to be considered by the small States 
that it was our interest to become one people as much as 
possible ; that State attachments should be extinguished as 
much as possible ; that the Senate should be so constituted 
as to have the feelings of citizens of whole." — Ibid., p 965. 

" Mr. Madison. The true policy of the small States, 
therefore, lies in promoting those principles and that form 
of government which will most approximate the States to 
the condition of counties"— Ibid., vol. ii. p. 982. 

" Mr. Read was in favor of the m-otion [to double the 
number] of representatives proposed for each State in the 
House of Representatives. Two of the States, Delaware 
and Rhode Island, would have but a single member if the 
aggregate number should remain sixty-five, and in case of 
an accident either of these States would have no represen- 
tative present to give explanations or information of its 
interest or wishes. The people would not place confidence 
in so small a number. He hoped the objects of the gen- 
eral government would be much more numerous than 
seemed to be expected by some gentlemen, and that they 
would become more and more so. As to the new States, 
the highest number in the whole might be limited, and all 
danger of excess thereby prevented." — Ibid., p. 1062. 

" Mr. Read would have no objection to the system if it 
was truly national, but it has too much of a Federal mix- 
ture in it. The little States, he thouglit, had not much to 
fear. He suspected the larger States felt their want of 
energy, and wished for a general government to supply the 
defect. Massachusetts was evidently laboring under her 
weakness, and he believed Delaware would not be in much 
danger in her neighborhood. Delaware had enjoyed tran- 
quillity, and he flattered himself would continue to do so.* 
He was not, however, so selfish as not to wish for a good 

* Mr. Gorhani, of Massachusetts, said : " What would be the situa- 
tion of Delaware — (for these things I find must be spoken out, and it 
might as well be done first as last) — what would be the situation of 
Delaware in case of a separation of the States? would she not be at 
the mercy of Pennsylvania?" — Madison Papers, vol. ii. p. 988. 



OF GEORGE READ. 453 

general government; in order to obtain one, the whole 
States must be incorporated. If the State.s remain, the 
representatives of the Larger ones will stick together and 
carry everything before them. The executive also will be 
chosen under tlie inHuence of this partiality, and will be- 
tray it in his administration. These jealousies were insep- 
arable from leaving the States in existence ; they must be 
done away. The ungranted lands which have been as- 
sumed by particular States must be given up. He repeated 
his approbation of the plan of Mr. Hamilton,* and wished 

* Colonel Hamilton's plan, fjam a c^y-o^-it in Mr. Read's hand- 
writing : Jj-'-XJ^ X-^ ' 
I " 1. The supreme legislative power to be in an Assembly and Sen- 
ate, — laws passed by them sulyect to the after-mentioned negative. 

" 2. Senate, — to serve during good behavior, — to be chosen by elec- 
tors elected by the people in election districts, into which the States 
will be divided. In case of death of a senator, the vacancy to be filled 
out of the district whence he came. 

"3. The sui)reme executive to be a governor elected, during good 
behavior, by electors chosen by the people in the election districts ; his 
functions, — to have a negative on all laws about to be passed, and the 
execution of all passed; the direction of war, when declared; to make, 
with the advice and approbation of the Senate, all treaties ; to have the 
sole appointments of the iieads of. the departments of finance and foreign 
affairs, and the nomination of all other officers (ambassadors included), 
subject to the approbation or rejection by the Senate ; and the sole 
power of pardon, except in case of treason, in which he shall exercise 
it, subject to the ap[)roval of the Senat'e. In case of the death, re- 
moval, or resignation of the governor, his authority to be exercised by 
the President of ti)e Senate till his successor is appointed. 

" 4. The Senate shall have the sole power to declare war ; the power 
of advising and approving treaties, and the power of approving or re- 
jecting all appointments of officers except the chiefs of the departments 
of finance and foreign affairs. 

"5. The supreme judicial authority to be in judges, to hold office 
during good behavior, with adequate and permanent salaries; to have 
original jurisdiction in all cases of capture, and appellate juri.-^diction in 
all cases concerning the revenues of the general government, or the 
citizens of foreign nations. 

"6. The United States Legislature to have power to institute courts 
in each State for the determination of all matters of general concern. 

" 7. All officers of the United States to be liable to impeachment for 
malconduct, and, on conviction, to removal from office, and to be dis- 
qualified for holding any place of trust or profit. Impeachments to be 
tried by a court to consist of the chief or judges of the superior 
court of law of each State, provided he hold his place, during good 
behavior, and have an adequate salary. 

" 8. All laws of particular States, contrary to the Constitution and 



454 TAFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 

it to be substituted for Mr. Randolph's." — Ibid., vol. ii. pp. 
989, 990. 

" Mr. Read could not approve of the motion [of Mr. 
Gerry, that from and after the first meeting of Congress, 
till a census should be taken, taxes should be assessed upon 
the States respectively, according to the number of their 
representatives in the first branch]. He had obvserved a 
backwardness in the committee of some members from the 
large States to take their full proportion of representation. 
He did not then see their motive ; he now suspects it was 
to avoid their due share of taxation. He had no objection 
to a just and accurate adjustment of representation and 
taxation to each other." — Ibid., vol. ii. p. 1088. 

"Mr. Read moved to insert after the word 'senate,' the 
words ' subject to the negative to be hereafter provided.' 
His object was to give an absolute negative to the execu- 
tive. He considered this so essential to the Constitution 
[for] the preservation of liberty and the public welfare, 
that his dutv compelled him to make this motion." — Ibid., 
vol. iii. pp. 1248, 1249. 

" Mr. Read did not consider the section as to money-bills 
[i.e. originating them] of any advantage to the larger 
States, and had voted for striking it out. If it was consid- 
ered by them of any value, and as a condition of the equality 
of votes in the senate, he had no objection to its being re- 
instated." — Ibid., vol. iii. p. 1270. 

" Mr. Read reminded him [Mr. Rutledge] that we were 
now forming a national government, and such a regulation 
[requiring seven years' residence in a State where a mem- 
ber should be elected] would correspond little with the 
idea that we were one people." — Ibid., vol. iii. p. 1258. 

"Mr. Read thought the words ['and to emit bills on 
the credit of the United States'], if not struck out, would 



la\A's of the IJnitod States, to be utterly void ; and the better to pre- 
vent the passing of such laws the governor or president of each State 
shall be appointed by the general government, and shall have a nega- 
tive upon th(^ laws about to be passed in the State, of which he is gov- 
ernor or president. 

" 9. No State to have any land or naval force ; and the militia of all 
the States to be under the sole and exclusive direction of the United 
States, who shall appoint and commission all the officers thereof." 



OF GEORGE READ. 455 

be fis alarming as the mark of the beast in Revelation." — 
Ihitl., vol. ill. p. 134G. 

'•Mr. Read moved to strike out the clause [to appoint a 
treasurer by ballot], leaving the appointment of the treas- 
urer, as of other ofhcers, to the executive. The Legislature 
was an improper body for apj)ointments ; those of the State 
Legislatures were proofs of it. The executive being respon- 
sible would make a good choice." — [hid , p. 1347. 

'•Air. Read doubted the propriety of leaving the appoint- 
ment of the militia officers to the States. In some States 
they are elected by the Legislatures, — in others, appointed 
by the people themselves. He thought at least an ap- 
pointment by the State Executive ought to be insisted on." 
— Ibid., vol. iii. p. 13G4. 

" General Pinckney moved to commit the clause [that 
slaves might be made liable to an equal tax with other 
imports]. Mr. Read was ft)r the commitment, provided the 
clause concerning taxes on imports should be also commit- 
ted."— /6/cZ., p. 1396. 

'•Mr. Read moved that in case the numbers for the two 
highest in vote for President in the United States Legisla- 
ture (by which body, as the third clause of the tenth article 
of the proposed constitution as it then stood, he was to be 
elected) should be equal, then the president of the Senate 
should have an additional casting vote. This motion was 
disagreed to by a general negative." — Ibid., p. 1490. 

Article eleventh being taken up, Dr. Johnson suggested 
"that the judicial power ought to extend to equity as well 
as law, and moved to insert the words ' both in law and 
equity' in the first line of the first section. Mr. Read ob- 
jected to vesting both these powers in the same court, and 
Dr. Johnson's motion was agreed to. Aj'es 6, noes 2, — 
Delaware and Maryland; three absent." — Ibid., p. 1345. 

Mr. Gerry moved " that in the election of President by 
the House of Representatives no State shall vote by less 
than three members, and when that number shall not be 
allotted to a State it shall be made up by its senators." Mr. 
Read observed '' that the States having but one member in 
the House of Representatives would he in danger of having 
no vote at all in the election ; the sickness or absence of the 
representative, or either of the senators, would have that 
efl'ect." Mr. Madison replied, " If one member of the House 



456 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 

of Representatives be left capable of voting for a State, it 
would still be subject to that danger." — Ibid., p. 1515. 

Article first, section nine, " No capitation tax shall be 
laid, unless in proportion to the census or enumeration 
hereinbefore directed to be taken," being under considera- 
tion, " Mr. Read moved to insert after ^capitatkni the words 
^ or oilier direct taxJ He was afraid that some liberty might 
otherwise be taken to saddle the States with a readjustment, 
by this rule, of past requisitions of Congress, and that his 
amendment, by giving another cast to the meaning, \vould 
take away this pretext. Agreed to." — Ibid., voK iii. p. 
1579. 

Mr. Madison bears this emphatic testimony to the purity 
of the members of the convention and their devotion to the 
great task of framing a new constitution for their country- 
men, which they patriotically assumed, when convinced 
that the "Articles of Confederation" could not be so amended 
as to cure the evils of which they were the source and which 
could no longer be endured, and to prevent their recurrence. 
" I feel it my duty to express my profound and solemn con- 
viction, derived from my intimate opportunity of observing 
and appreciating the views of the convention, collectively 
and individually, that there never was an assemblage of 
men, charged with a great and arduous trust, who were 
more pure in their motives, or more exclusively and anx- 
iously devoted to the object committed to them, than were 
the members of the Federal Convention of 1787." — Ibid., 
vol. ii. p. 719. 

The Constitution was signed by thirty-five of the fifty-five 
members who were in attendance in the convention. Three 
only of them — Randolph, Mason, and Gerry — refused to 
sign,* and of the residue, some who approved it were com- 
pelled to leave Philadelphia before it was prepared for sig- 
nature."!* Of this number was John Dickinson, who, in the 
following note, empowered his friend Mr. Read to sign it 
for him : 

" Mr. Dickinson presents his compliments to Mr. Read, 
and requests that if the constitution, formed by the con- 

* Ilildreth's History of the United States, vol. iii. p. 526. 
f Pitkin's History of the United States, vol. ii. p. 2G2. 



OF GEORGE READ. 457 

vention, is to be signed by the members of that body, Mr. 
Read will be so good as to subscribe Mr. Dickinson's name 
— his indisposition and some particular circumstances re- 
quiring him to return home. 
''September 15th, 1787." 

The Constitution was submitted by the convention to 
Congress, and under a resolution of that body, passed 28th 
September, 1787, transmitted to the Legislatures of the 
several States, to be laid before conventions to be elected 
by the people ; and it was recommended that as soon as nine 
States should ratify, and so (as provided by the convention) 
establish it between these States, Congress should provide 
by the necessary law for organizing the new 'government. 

The Constitution encountered immediately violent oppo- 
sition, being discussed by all everywhere and in every mode. 
It was alleged by its opponents that it created a great con- 
solidated government, which must swallow up the States 
and endanger the liberties of their citizens, not secured by 
sufficient provisions in the Constitution itself, or in a bill of 
rights prefixed to it. This anti-constitutional party con- 
sisted of men in debt, advocates of stay and tender laws 
and paper money, puny politicians, who feared their impor- 
tance would be lessened or lost by the surrender of State 
powers; but with them were men who honestly doubted 
whether the Constitution proposed would form a perfect 
union, establish justice, insure tranquillity, provide for the 
common defence and welfare, and secure to a great people 
and their posterity the blessings of liberty : and these men 
gave this party weight. But the Constitution had advo- 
cates, and most able ones, who believed it would secure the 
inestimable benefits which were its declared objects ; and 
they were merchants, creditors, the owners of property, the 
educated, the moral and religious, throughout the Union, 
who constitute the conservative portion of communities at 
all times. They could not be gainsayed when they pointed 
out provisions of the Constitution which showed that it 
established neither a merely consolidated nor federal govern- 
ment, but in truth a compound of both, and that the fear 
of its swallowing up the States was a chimera, because the 
powers granted the general government were few and de- 
fined, while those reserved were many and undefined ; 

30 



458 LIFE AND CORHESPONDENCE 

because the general government depended upon the agency 
of the States for its existence, while they would exist inde- 
pendently of it ; because the United States officers were few, 
comparatively, and those of the States many; because the 
States would have the first place in the affections of their 
citizens, legislating for all their rights and relations, with 
ievf exceptions, the general government only having to do 
with things external to them, and the States having execu- 
tives, legislatures, and militia to oppose encroachments upon 
their rights. 

The Constitution was ratified by the State of Delaware, 
7th December, 1787, she having the honor of being the 
first of the ratifying States. I am not aware that there 
was serious opposition to the Constitution in Delaware. 
Her deputies were entitled to gratitude and applause for 
the ability, zeal, and fearlessness with which they advo- 
cated her claim to an equal rank with the larger States in 
the general government, and their wisdom in yielding 
somewhat of her pretensions, on this and other points, 
under the influence of the generous disposition to mutual 
deference and concession which characterized this illustrious 
assembly, and without which its wisdom, its knowledge, its 
ability, and its purity would have availed nothing for the 
attainment of the great object it was elected to accomplish. 
It appears by a subsequent letter of Mr. Read that he was 
present at the session of the Delaware Legislature, in Oc- 
tober, 1787, when the law was passed which called the 
convention of her citizens that ratified the proposed Consti- 
tution of the United States. 

The gentleman whose death was announced by the fol- 
lowing letter was not only the friend but connection of Mr. 
Read, Colonel Cantwell's father and the Reverend George 
Ross having married daughters of Mr. Williams, of Rhode 
Island. 

"Princeton, September 27tb, 1781 

" Dear Sir, — I take the liberty of writing to you on the 
melancholy occasion of the death of Colonel Cantwell, 
which happened this evening. It was sudden and unex- 
pected. He sent for me yesterday, and I have attended him 
to-day, but had no apprehension of danger till an hour or two 
before his death. 1 refer you to your son's letter for par- 
ticulars, and shall only mention that I wish you to take 



OF GEORGE READ. 459 

the most prudent manner to communicate this melancholy 
event to his family. I shall take the direction of his fu- 
neral, which will be attended to-morrow at four o'clock in 
the evening. I shall endeavor to have it conducted with 
proper decency and respect, by the advice of your son and 
his nephew. I have sent off this express, and leave the 
further proceedings with respect to informing his friends 
entirely to you. I am, dear sir, with great respect, 

"Your humble servant, 

"John Bayard.* 
"Honorable George Read, New Castle, Del., per express." 

The following letter of Dr. Witherspoon was, no doubt, 
very gratifying to Mr. Read : 

" Princeton, October 2d, 1787. 

" Sir, — As your sonf leaves us to-morrow, T take the 
opportunity of signifying to you that he and his companion, 
Mr. Jones, have given great satisfaction to us by their be- 
havior, and I hope will be an honor to us by their improve- 
ment. Indeed, we are happy in the students that have 
come to us from your State. If you have any opportunity 
of seeing Mr. Van Dyke, please assure him that his sonj 
is, I think, without doubt, the first in his class. I have 
conversed a little with your son as to his future studies, 
and, if he cannot return here, shall willingly write him 
my opinion upon that subject. It requires a very extensive 
knowledge of books to make a learned man, but careful 
reading of books, well chosen, will do much to make a truly 
intelligent man. 

" I have the honor to be, sir, your most obedient, humble 
servant, 

"John Witherspoon." 

Mr. Read wrote to the widow of Colonel Cantwell as 
follows : 

"New Castle, December 18th, 1787. 

" Dear Madam, — I am told that a Captain Litle, a gen- 
tleman resident at Princeton, known to Colonel Cantwell, 

* Colonel Cantwell went to Princeton to attend the commencement 
of the college. 

f John, who, with Cantwell Jones, had just graduated. 
X Nicholas. See Appendix 13. 



460 LIFE AND COBRESPONDENCE 

is now at Philadelphia, and has expressed a desire to be in- 
formed whether it is your intention to remove the corpse of 
Colonel Cantwell from its present burying-place or not, that 
if not he may direct the covering up of the grave in a "neces- 
sary and proper manner before any severe frost may come 
on. With respect to this removal, I can only repeat the 
opinion I entertain of it, and expressed to you when I saw 
you last, to wit, that if it was [the case of] my dearest 
connection I should not make the removal unless such had 
been the request of the dying person. I consider the 
present place of Colonel Cantwell's burial a respectable one, 
and far preferable to any private burial-place on a farm, 
which passeth too suddenly out of the family whose re- 
mains have been placed there. Two striking instances of 
this occur presentl}^ to my memory, to wit, that of B. Chew, 
whose family burying-place is on a farm, where his family 
lived, near Dover, which has been sold some years to a 
person in no ways connected with this family, though true 
it is that the burial-place is well inclosed with a brick wall; 
but this must decay, and when the present generation is 
passed away there may be no trace of this inclosure. The 
other instance is that of the gentleman I studied the law 
with. He had his family burying-place in his garden, on a 
farm he owned, within three miles of Philadelphia, and 
where he, after his death, was interred; and in the course 
of twenty-five years since the owners of this farm have 
been changed two or three times; so that I most certainly 
.approve of church-yards in jDreference to any private burial- 
place ; and as to families lying together, it hath received a 
sanction from early custom, but, when seriously reflected 
upon, it cannot be considered as momentous. There can be 
no difficulty, I apprehend, in meeting with or discovering 
one another in the other world, and as to the decaying 
matter of which our bodies are formed, it soon mixes with 
the earth. So that I am clearly of opinion the decaying 
remains of my friend should be permitted to rest where 
they are presently. It was the will of Providence that he 
should part with life at Princeton, and there they should 
lie undisturbed. You must pardon the freedom I have 
taken in expressing my opinion on this subject, as it is not 
binding or conclusive upon you. I am still confined to my 
chamber, and cannot say when I can be with you. This 



OF GEORGE READ. 461 

cold weather, with its increase, which must shortly be ex- 
pected, will confine me to the house for a time, supposing 
I was rid of my disorder, which is not the case with me, 
though I hope I shall shortly, as I find myself rather better 
each d.iy, and acquire some more strength. My son Jacky 
has an intermittent [fever], principally owing to his affec- 
tionate attendance on me for some nights following each 
other, which prevents him from visiting you as he intended 
at this time. All my family join in their compliments to 
yon. Miss Sally, and Cantwell, and I am yours, very sin- 
cerely, 

"George Read. 

"Colonel Bedford waits upon you for the purpose of 
granting letters of administration on Colonel Cantwell's 
estate. 

" Mrs. Sarah Cantwell." 

None but a cursory reader of Mr. Read's letter to Mrs. 
Cantwell can conclude that he thought and felt with those 
who have considered it a matter of indifference whether 
our lifeless bodies should be buried or burned, cast forth a 
feast to carrion birds or* left to fester in corruption on the 
surface of the earth. That any one should so conclude I 
would much regret, because those thus thinking and feeling 
have been almost without exception of that miserable 
school, foes of men as well as of God, who have held death 
to be an eternal sleep, or at least of the thoughtless if not 
vicious throng who have lived and died without testing the 
claims of Divine revelation to be believed, or even enter- 
taining the question of its truth or falsehood. But it is 
evident that Mr. Read considered as proper and desirable 
both the decent burial of the dead and the preservation of 
their remains inviolate, from his rendering cordial thanks 
to Colonel Bayard for the very proper interment of his 
friend, and his preference of the public to the private bury- 
ing-ground, which otherwise would have been to him matters 
of no moment. 

Wherever man has dwelt on our globe he has left evi- 
dence not to be mistaken of his reverential regard to the 
remains of the- dead; in the pyramid, the mummy, the cata- 
comb, the mound, and the carefully-inclosed cemetery, 
which are expressions of a universal belief in the imraor- 



462 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 

tality of the soul and the resurrection of the body. For if 
the body be not raised and reunited to the spirit, why such 
care to preserve it? This evidence of these doctrines was 
of great value to those who had not our clear revelation of 
these truths.* 

I cannot concur in the opinion of Mr. Read that the 
interring of families together is a matter of no moment ; 
for to me, and I believe to men generally, in the view of 
separation from dear friends, the hope is consoling that, 
united in life by the closest ties, even in death the mortal 
parts shall not be divided. The dying command of Jacob 
was not only " bury me in Canaan,'' but " with my fathers." 
Though it could be almost demonstrated that particles of 
the bodies grouped in the family burying-place have, by 
mysterious processes of nature, escaped from their cold, and 
dark, and narrow prison-houses, we should still cling to the 
belief that the graves of our friends, faithful to their trusts, 
ever hold the precious deposit of their remains, — at least 
till science should show that they do not retain the germs 
of the incorruptible and immortal bodies in which the de- 
parted shall stand on the earth with their Redeemer, in the 
latter day, glorious. 

Mr. Read replied to the foregoing letter of Colonel 
Bayard : 

"December 18th, \1%1. 

"Dear Sir, — I had yours of the 27th of September last, 
respecting the death of Colonel Cantwell, at Princeton, and 
your intended care and direction of his funeral ; and on the 
evening following the day I received it I prevailed on Mrs. 
Read to wait on Mrs. Cantwell and Miss Jones, her niece, 
in order to disclose to tliem the unhappy tidings in a proper 
manner. I happened, luckily, to have a client with me of 
Colonel Cantwell's neighborhood at the receipt of your let- 
ter, who undertook to deliver a letter from me to Mrs. 
Cantwell, mentioning his being dangerously ill at Prince- 
ton, and that it might be necessary, perhaps, that some of 

* " The great care of funerals, and decently interring the dead, Cicero 
induces as a consequence of the belief in tiie soul's ininiortality." — In 
Lselion: Cicero, i>e Repuhlica. — Quoted in Barrow's Sermons, vol. v. 
p. 197. 



OF GEORGE READ. 463 

his family should prepnre themselves to attend him ; but 
that I should have a more satisfactory account to transmit 
of his situation, perhaps, by the evening of the next day. 
This was delivered by my messenger, according to his en- 
gagement, and the bare appearance of Mrs. Read in the 
afternoon confirmed the supposition of Colonel C.'s death. 
Mrs. Cantwell was then confined to her room, and her niece 
very unwell by a close attendance on her aunt, so that if 
the funeral could have been delayed a day or two, neither 
could have attended Upon Cantwell Jones coming down, 
he exhibited to me the respective bills and receipts for 
moneys you had been kind enough to pay out of the money 
Colonel Cantwell happened to have with him. I had not 
an opportunity to see Mrs. Cantwell until the 22d of Octo- 
ber, on my way to Dover to attend a session of our General 
Assembly. I came from thence very unwell, and was soon 
after confined to my room, where I still am, with a remit- 
ting fever which has proved obstinate and tedious, and this 
is my apology for the delay of answer to your kind and 
friendly letter. Wishing, in the first instance, to inform 
you of the sense Mrs. Cantwell had of your friendly and 
humane conduct in the ilhiess of her husband, and after- 
wards in the very decent interment of his remains, when I 
had this in my power by her ])ersonal acknowledgment, 
my subsequent sickness has delayed my transmitting to 
you the very grateful sense Mrs. Cantwell, her niece, and 
nephew have of your conduct and management of this 
business. I now offer to you their and my most cordial 
thanks for your trouble and attention to the funeral of 
Colonel Cantwell and durini*' his illness. Whether the 
corpse is to be removed to the family burying-place on his 
farm or not I believe is undetermined. When I saw Mrs. 
Cantwell she then expressed such intention, and asked my 
opinion; in her then situation I avoided being very ex- 
plicit, though I then expressed my opinion against the 
ivmoval ; however, I have this day wrote her my senti- 
ments freely and fully on the subject of removal, disap- 
proving the measure. My son John, whom you saw at 
Princeton, wishes me, through you, to present his compli- 
ments to your son Samuel; and, as I have heard of your 
late matrimonial connection. I sincerely wish you and your 
good lady to experience all the happiness which attends 



464 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 

that state. And I am, with much esteem and respect, your 
most obedient servant, 

"George Read. 
" Colonel John Bayard, Philadelphia." 

The year 1787 clos^ed and 1788 opened upon the people 
of thirteen States greatly excited and auitated. The pro- 
posed Constitution was before them, to be tried by its merits, 
and they were soon arrayed in two great parties, — the Fed- 
eralists, who approved, and the Anti-Federalists, who re- 
jected it; designations so infelicitously applied as each to 
be expressive of opinions the opposite of those of the party 
it distinguished. The pen, the tongue, and the press were, 
through the length and breadth of the land, unceasingly, 
for months, employed in discussing the new system of gov- 
ernment. It would have been little honorable to the people 
had their interest in the great question submitted to them 
been less ; and if we regret the intemperance, and even vio- 
lence, which sometimes occurred, we vvortder they were so 
infrequent, when we consider the momentous interests in- 
volved, and the amount of ignorance, prejudice, and selfish- 
ness the advocates of the Constitution encountered, Dela- 
ware, having the honor of ^/?r6-^ ratifying the Constitution 
of the United States (and it was unanimously and without 
amendment), December 7th, 1787, was followed by nine of 
her sister States— two of them, Pennsylvania and New 
Jersey, ratifying it in that month, and the last, Virginia, 
in June, 1789. The opposition in some of the State con- 
ventions had been so strong, and the majorities for ratifying 
the new plan of government so small, as to make it doubt- 
ful whether or not a majority of the whole people of the 
United States had approved and adopted it, and some un- 
certaint}^, therefore, darkened the future of the Constitution. 
The opposition was led in Virginia and New York by men 
of great ability and long prominent, having filled the high- 
est offices of these States and rendered great services. In 
Virginia, Henry, one of their leaders, if he electrified his con- 
vention by displays of the wonderful oratorical power of his 
early career, discovered little of the sagacity and foresight 
of the statesman. His forebodings were most gloomy. 
" Should this system," exclaimed hft, " go into operation, 
nothing; will be left to the States but to take care of the 



OF GEOBGE READ. 4G5 

poor, repair and make highways nnd bridges, and soon and 
so on." But it soon a|)pe-ired that these dark forebodings 
were merely the oftspring of a distempered fancy. So far 
from being reduced to insignificance, Virginia could point 
WMth honorable pride to four of her citizens elevated to the 
chief magistracy of the Union, wdio administered its affairs 
for more than the fourth of a century with signal ability, 
wisdom, and j^atriotism during the most difficult and criti- 
cal periods of its history; and through them and others of 
her citizens, eminent in the halls of Congress, in statesman- 
ship, in diplomacy, and jurisprudence, exercised a great if 
not controlling influence in national affairs. The opposition 
of New York was, I regret to believe, deeply tinctured by 
the sordid desire to retain tlie power she enjoyed of filling 
her treasury by imposts on commodities her neighbors must 
receive through her city, already an important town, and 
soon to be one of the great marts of the world, from her 
location on the magnificent estuary of the Hudson, wdiose 
waters, flowing from sources far inland, mingled at a short 
distance from her safe and capacious harbor with the 
ocean.* "The little States," said Mr. Grayson in the Vir- 
ginia convention, " have carried their point" — he meant the 
equal vote secured them in the United States Senate. If 
they carried this point, it was by the ability, zeal, and de- 
termination they manifested in contending: for it, and, want- 
ing it, they would have b3en without safeguard against the 
ambition or the avarice of the larger States, and to have 
believed that they would always rise above these passions 
must have manifested not magnanimity but i'oWy. The 
great objection to the Constitution — to wit, that it created 
a consolidated government — was fallacious ; and its defect, 
it appears to me, was principally the want of provisions 
such as are embraced in bills of rights, declaring the invio- 
lability of the liberty of the press, the trial by jury, freedom 
of conscience, and the like, which defect was supplied by 
subsequent amendments. 

The Constitution having been ratified by the number of 
States necessary to its going into operation, the States that 
had ratified it took the steps preliminary to the election of 
the officers who must administer it. The State of Delaware, 

* Hildreth's History of the United States, vol. i. p. 38. 



466 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 

by an act of Assembly passed in 1788,* directed the time, 
place, and manner of holding an election for representative 
in Congress and electors of President and Vice-President; 
and the Governor of Delaware, by his proclamation of the 
24th of January, 1789,f declared that at an election held 
on the first Wednesday of that month, John Vining was 
elected representative to Congress, and Gunning Bedford 
(the elder), John Banning, and George Mitchell, electors of 
President and Vice-President of the United States, These 
electors met at Dover, February 4th, 1789, and cast three 
votes for George Washington as President and John Jay 
as Vice-President J George Read and Richard Bassett were 
previously chosen by the Legislature of Delaware United 
States Senators. 

Of Mr. Read's correspondence in the year 1788 only 
three letters have been preserved. 

The cities of New York and Philadelphia were com- 
petitors for the honor and advantage of being the place 
where the new government should be inaugurated ; and as 
this question would be decided by the Continental Congress, 
and other important business would be before it, Mr. Dick- 
inson urged Mr. Read to exert his influence to induce a 
full representation of the State of Delaware in that body, 
in the following letter: 

"Wilmington, July 5th, 1188. 

'• My dear Friend, — Yesterday and to-day I have re- 
ceived letters, — one from Tench Coxe, the other from 
Charles Thomson, — by which I learn that Congress is very 
soon to fix upon a place for commencing the operations of 
the Federal government, and that Philadelphia will un- 
questionably be chosen, if Delaware shall be represented. 

" There are, besides, many important determinations to 
be made, that render it in the highest degree necessary that 
this State should be immediately represented. The absence 
of one man has frequently confused our public affairs. I 
expect it will be so again, but I am discharging what I 
esteem a duty, and earnestly request that every measure 



* Laws of Delaware, vol. ii. p. 931. 

f Delaware Gazette, Jamiarv 31st, 1789. 

jibid., No. 192, Uih February, 1789. 



OF GEORGE BEAD. 467 

which shall appear proper may be taken to give this State 
a vote in the business that is coming on. 

" I am thy sincere friend, 

"John Dickinson. 
" George Read, Esquire." 

The writer of the graceful letter which is next presented 
to the reader had filled the office of secretary to the con- 
vention which framed the Constitution of the United States, 
and was now a candidate (but unsuccessfully) for the sec- 
retarj'ship of the United States Senate. 

"Philadelphia, December 10th, 1188. 

" Dear Sir, — I will not wrong my belief of your good- 
ness by offering an apology for the freedom I am about to 
use, nor will I presume to bespeak your regard by making 
any pretensions io, public favor. The one and the other 
will be more properly referred to the graciousness of your 
disposition towards me, and the knowledge which observa- 
tion may liave afforded you of my character and conduct. 
A predilection for public life has determined me to wish for 
such a situation under the Federal government as may lead 
to the acquirement of political knowledge, in an honorable 
walk, and the advice of particular friends has pointed to 
the secretarj^ship of the Senate as the most eligible station 
on which I may presume to place a hope of success. Per- 
suaded of the weight your recommendation will carry with 
it to the gentlemen who may be appointed Senators, I beg 
leave to commit my wishes to your patronage, should you 
regard my request as consistent with your governing prin- 
ciple, — the public good. I am aware of the competition 
which will arise in the pursuit of this object, but my hopes 
are greatly strengthened when I flatter myself that a friend 
as influential and generously inclined as Mr. Read may find 
himself at liberty to countenance my wish. 

" With the most respectful attachment, I am, dear sir, 
your obliged and obedient servant, 

" W. Jackson.* 

" Honorable George Read, New Castle, Delaware." 

* Samuel Allyne Otis wns the first Secretary of the United States 
Senate, and lield this office for five-and-twenty years, and until his 
death, in 18U. 

" Mr. Otis was a most pleasant companion at home and abroad. 



468 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 

■ Mr. Read's old friend and associate in the United States 
Admiral t}^ Court wrote, at this time, in f\ivor of another 
candidate for the secretaryship of the United States 
Senate, from 

" New York, December, 1T88. 

" My dear Sir, — I am solicited by Mr. John Livingston 
and his friends to ask your interest for him as clerk of the 
Senate, under the new constitution. He has acted as my 
secretary, while President of Congress, is sensible, and 
writes a good hand. I flatter myself with the pleasure of 
seeing you in New York, before I quit it, — I hope some 
time in March. 

" I have the honor to be, with real friendship and regard, 
your affectionate, humble servant, 

"C. Griffin. 

" The Honorable George Read, New Oastle, Delaware." 

In 1788 Mr. Read was assailed in a pamphlet,* by a 
writer uilder the signature of" Timoleon." The writer was 
"Dr. Tilton," who had filled the office of " surgeon-general" 
of the American army, and had been a member of the Con- 
tinental Congress. He charged Mr. Read, under the cog- 
nomen of "Dionysius, the Tyrant of Delaware," with having 
been, through the whole of the recent Revolutionary con- 
test, at heart a Tory, imputing interest and ambition as the 
motives of his political course, but bringing not one proof 
to support his charge, which therefore rests on his unsup- 
ported assertions. Dr. Tilton had been loan officer and 
State treasurer at the same time, and Mr. Read, believing 
these offices to be incompatible, after a long contest before 
the Council of Delaware, carried an amendment to a tax- 
When at Philadelphia, I lived in constant habits of intimacy with the 
family, and was witness of the cheerfulness and urbanity of his man- 
ners, which in public life secured him aj?ainst the shafts of malice. He 
was always moderate, and never imposed his own opinions upon those 
who dissented from him on political questions, — firm in his own, he left 
others the same liberty. For twenty-five years he retained the love and 
esteem of the Senate of the United States.' He adorned the doctrines 
of Cliristianity, which he professed, havinsi: been liberal, candid, and 
charitable. His uniform temperance promised a lonu^er life than was 
his, but few of the infirmities of old ag'c were discoverable in him." — 
Letters of Mrs. Adams, Wife of John Adams, pp. 417, 418. 
* The dedication of this pamphlet bears date August 20th, 1T83. 



OF GEOROE READ. 469 

bill of the Assembly of Delaware, declaring them to be so, 
which caused Dr. Tilton's resignation of the office of treas- 
urer; and another atnendment to the same bill, censuring 
him for having illegally declined to issue certificates of in- 
terest on certain debts of the United States, which certifi- 
cates, by an act of the United States Congress, were re- 
ceivable for one-fourth of the requisition of that body, A.D. 
1782,'-' on the States; and further, Mr. Read moved resolu- 
tions, which were adopted, setting forth the misstatements 
of facts in the protest of Dr. Tilton against these proceed- 
ings. All of which is prominently stated in his pamphlet, 
with evident bias and bad temper. I will not assert that 
malice prompted this pamphlet, but I state these facts, 
from which vindictive feeling in its writer towards the man 
he attacked may (with probability) be inferred. Mr. Read 
never deigned a reply to this assault. Had he felt the 
necessity of defending himself against it, he might have 
appealed to his public services and the uninterrupted con- 
fidence of his fellow-citizens in his integrity, manifested 
undeniably by, his election to office through a long period, 
and to a long life of honorable labor in his profession, upon 
which the lynx-eye of his enemy could find no stain ; and 
I may appeal to the letters, in the preceding chapters of 
this biography, of the most prominent Whigs in Delaware, 
as evidence that they esteemed and respected him as de- 
voted, not less sincerely than themselves, to the cause of 
their countrj^ That this pamphlet in no degree diminished 
the public confidence in Mr. Read's integrity, may be truly 
inferred from his election, immediately after it appeared, to 
the United States Senate, and to his being solicited, while 
holding that honorable office, by Governor Clayton, to ac- 
cept the chief justiceship of Delaware. It is with some 
hesitation that I have disinterred this long-forgotten pam- 
phlet, but, professing to write the life of my grandfather, it 
seemed to me disingenuous to pass it without notice. In 
the "Delaware Gazette," at the close of 1788 and beginning 
of 1789, are several articles in defence of the party assailed 
with "Dionysius" as Tories by "Timoleon," but no allusions 
to the imputations against him. Timoleon was evidently 
an ultra and rabid Whig, and as to the animus of his 

* See Chapter Y. 



470 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 

pamphlet, whatever can be fairly ascribed to the narrow- 
ness, injustice, prejudice, and distorted and jaundiced views 
of a political partisan, may be deducted from the malice 
which, the candid reader may conclude, incited its author 
to defame his fellow-citizens. "Of Mr. Read," wrote Ti- 
moleon, page 96 of his pamphlet, "it was predicted by an 
Adams, with great sagacity, long ago, that, 'if ever he got 
his foot upon the threshold, he would make his way into 
the cabinet of any government.' " 

The year 1789 is memorable in the annals of the 
United States for the inauguration of the Constitution, 
under which, in general wisely administered, but not with- 
out grave errors, they have enjoyed extraordinary pros- 
perity. 

There were already aspirants to office under the new 
government, and Mr. Read was beset with solicitations for 
his influence and good offices for some of them. None in 
the wide circle of his friends and acquaintance would be 
more regarded than John Dickinson, who wrote to him in 
favor of Major Jackson, from 

"Wilmington, JaDuary 21111, 1189. 
"My dear Friend, — Major Jackson has requested me to 
use my influence to assist him in attaining the secretary- 
ship of the Senate. His merit is so considerable and well 
known that I cannot believe that anything I can say can 
be of use. If the present Secretary of Congress does not 
desire the place, I shall wish the major to succeed, and I 
beg thee to speak to thy colleague on the subject. Colonel 
Pierce of Savannah, who sat with us in the convention, 
applies to me for my assistance in procuring him the ap- 
pointment to the collectorship of that port. I shall be very 
glad if he shall be approved by the Senators of this State. 
" I am thy sincere friend, 

"John Dickinson." 

Colonel Heth deserved, no doubt, the high character 
given him in the following letter : 

"Richmond, February 12th, 1*789. 
" Dear Sir, — Among the arrangements of office which 
will most likely take place in the United States, some will 



OF GEORGE READ. 471 

probably be peculiar to the different States. As I am con- 
fident that a knoAvled^ie of characters here would assist 
those in whose hands this business rests, I shall not scruple 
to request your particular attention to my friend Colonel 
William Heth. He was an officer of distinguished merit 
in the Virginia line, and is now a member of our Executive 
Council, where I can testify to his services having been, 
during my connection with that board, independent and 
judicious. In the department of accounts, I can pledge 
myself for his accuracy and assiduity, and I am persuaded 
that I might risk my reputation on whatsoever he shall 
undertake. I should add an apology for troubling you on 
this occasion, were it not that I have the happiness to 
believe that my recommendation will not be unacceptable 
to you, and I feel an assurance that I am presenting to the 
acceptance of the United States a gentleman in whom you 
cannot be deceived. 

" 1 am, dear sir, with great respect and esteem, your most 
obedient servant, 

" Edmund Randolph.* 

"Honorable George Read, Esquire." 

The importunity of the letter next inserted ought to find 
excuse in the frank confession by the writer, of the unhappy 
circumstances to which — once a prosperous merchant — he 
was reduced. 

" riiiLADELPiiiA, March 4th, 1T89. 

" Dear Sir,—! promised myself the pleasure of seeing 
you before you went to New York, agreeably to my earn- 
est request contained in my letter of the 23d ultimo, sent 
you by post; but as I am disappointed, I will tell you what 
1 particularly wanted to see you for. I have applied to 
Mr, Morris, before he set off for New York, and requested 
his assistance to procure me some office under Congress, — 
which he kindly assured me he would willingly do. The 
Senate, I think, has the power of recommending to the 
President for appointments to offices belonging to the col- 
lection of duties and excise. I would be glad to be ap- 
pointed, either by myself or with a colleague, to the excise, 
etc., or to the office which Dr. Greene formerly held, and 

* See Appendi.x C. 



472 LIFE AND COBBESPONDENCE 

[wbicli] is now held by Mr. Phvle, or to a commissionership 
of bankrupts (Mr, Sliippen was formerly in that office), or 
even — if Congress should remove hither — to some judi- 
ciary station. In short, I must, my dear old friend, tell 
you plainly that I shall starve unless some appointment is 
gotten for me. My brothers, Isaac and Charles, will give 
any security that may be necessary for me. I have plainly 
told you my case, and I hope you will speak to Mr. Morris 
about it, as soon as you receive this letter, and do what you 
can for me, and you will greatly oblige 

" Your affectionate friend, 

" Samuel Wharton. 

" Pray present my kind regards to Mr. Morris. I shall 
write to Mr. Clymer and Mr. Fitsimmons. Please speak 
to Colonel Grayson about me. He, I am persuaded, will 
cheerfully do what he can for me. 

" Honorable George Read, Esquire." 

On the 4th of March, the day for the inauguration of the 
new constitution, there was not a quorum of either house 
of Congress in New York. In part it may have been from 
the little facility enjoyed for quick travelling, but chiefly, 
I am afraid, from the procrastination and indifierence to 
public duty, into which official persons had too generally 
fallen during the decrepitude of the Confederacy. The 
Senators in New York, impatient at the laches of their col- 
leagues, addressed them the following circular : 

"New York, March 11th, 1789. 
" Sir, — Agreeably to the Constitution of the United 
States, eight members of the Senate and eighteen of the 
House of Representatives have attended here since the 4th 
of March. It being of the utmost importance that a quorum 
sufficieiit to proceed to business should assemble as soon as 
possible, it is the opinion of the gentlemen of both houses 
that information of their situation be immediately com- 
municated to the absent members. We apprehend that no 
arguments are necessary to evince to you the indispensable 
necessity of putting the government into immediate opera- 
tion, and therefore request that you will be so obliging as 
to attend as soon as possible. 



OF GEORGE READ. 473 

"We have the honor to be, sir, your obedient, humble 
servants, 

''John Langdon, Paine Wingate, Caleb Strong, Wil- 
liam Maclay, William Samuel Jackson, Oliver Ells- 
^'ORTii, Robert Morris, W. Few. 

''The Honorable George Read, Esquire, New Castle, 
Delaware State." 

The writer of the following letter was an eminent 
merchant of Philadelphia and a millionaire, and afterwards 
a member of the United States Senate. 

"Philadelphia, March 15th, 1Y89, 
" Dear Sir, — I will make no apology for soliciting your 
suffrage in favor of Major Jackson, who is a candidate for 
the secretaryship of the Senate, who, by a discharge of such 
duties [as of this post] when in a similar situation under 
the convention, must have made a due impression on you, 
with respect to his qualifications. From a personal inti- 
macy I know him [to be] possessed of every quality that 
can insure your esteem and support. I shall regard myself 
as under an obligation to you for every effort made by you 
in his favor. 

" I am, with respect, sir, your obedient, humble servant, 

"William Bingham. 
" George Read, Esquire." 

Nearly three weeks had elapsed since the 4th of March, 
and still there was no quorum of the houses of Congress in 
New York. Mr. Read did not, I believe, from his general 
character as a public man, deserve the reproach of neglect 
of duty, to which his protracted absence from his seat in the 
United States Senate exposed him. Unfortunately I have 
no letter of his accounting for it, but as he states in his 
letter (p. 481) to Mr. Dickinson that he came sick to New 
York, it is highly probable that sickness prevented his earl}' 
attendance in Congress.'^" The plain language and earnest 

* Monday, April 13th, 1789.— Honorable Ralph Izard, of South Caro- 
lina, Charles Carroll, from Maryland, and the Honorable George Read, 
from Delaware, several!}' produced their credentials and took their 
seats in the Senate. — Journal of the Senate of the United States, vol. i. 
pp. 10, 11. 

31 



474 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 

expostulation of Charles Thomson in the following letter 
evinced his patriotism and friendship for Mr. Read : 

"Philadelphia, March 21st, 1T89. 

" Dear Sir, — T have received the favor of your letter of 
the 14th by Mr. Bassett, and shall be very happy to show 
him all the civilities in my power ; but I am extremely 
mortified that you did not come with him. Those who feel 
for the honor and are solicitous for the happiness of this 
country are pained to the heart at the dilatory attendance 
of the members appointed to form the two houses, while 
those who are averse to the new constitution, and those 
w4io are unfriendly to the liberty, and, consequently, to the 
happiness and prosperity of this country, exult at our lan- 
guor and inattention to the public concerns, and flatter 
themselves that we shall continue, as we have been for 
some time past, the scoff of our enemies. It is now almost 
three weeks since the day appointed for the meeting of the 
two houses and for commencing the operations under the 
new constitution, and there are not enough arrived to form 
either house and to count the ballots, to see who is elected 
President or Vice-President. What must the world think 
of us? But what in particular mortifies me in respect to 
you is that there is every reason to believe your absence 
wdll alone, on Monday next, prevent the Senators from 
forming a house, and at the same time there is reason to 
believe there will be a sufficient number to form the House 
of Representatives, so that the eyes of the continent will 
be turned on you, and all the great and important business 
of the Union be at a stand because you are not here. I 
must therefore, as a friend, intreat you to lay aside all lesser 
concerns and private business, and come on immediately. 
When the house is full, as your distance from home will 
not be great, and as the conveyance by the stage is easy, 
safe, and rapid when the roads are good, you ma}^, I doubt 
not, obtain leave to return and settle any business you may 
leave unfinished. Be pleased to present my compliments 
to your lady. I write in the confidence of friendship, being, 
with sincere regard, your old friend and humble servant, 

"Charles Thomson.'-'' 

" Honorable George Read, New Castle, Delaware." 

* See Appendix C 2. 



OF GEORGE READ. 475 

It seems from the letter of the representative in Congress 
from Delaware, John Vining, which follows, that State 
attnclnnent and interest so much predominated at tliis 
period as to interfere with the discharge of higher duties to 
the Union : 

"April 1st, 1789. 

" Dear Sir, — You have doubtless before this heard of the 
death of our late worthy president, Mr. Collins, which 
melancholy circumstance took place, somewhat unexpect- 
edly, on Sunday last. In consequence of this event, we are 
informed that the Assembly will be convened on the 20th 
of the present month for the purpose of filling the vacancy. 
Our politicians seem a good deal perplexed in their ideas 
about a successor. Messrs. McKinley, Clayton, T3assett and 
McDonough have all their partisans in this part of the 
State. "^^ I had forgot to mention his Honor Mr. Sykes, w ho, 
if I may judge from his appearance, would very much like 
the office. You will very much oblige me by communi- 
cating the latest information which you may have received 
from New York, as my movements must, circumstanced as 
I am, very much depend upon the necessity of the case. If 
it could possibly be reconciled to anything like propriety, 
both my private convenience and public wishes would unite 
in keeping me here until the Assembly rise, \which, I pre- 
sume, will be very shortly after they meet. Your ideas 
upon this subject, as well as on any other in which you 
may think proper to advise me, will ever be in friendly 
acceptance to your very respectful and obedient, humble 
servant, 

"John ViNiNG.f 

" The bearer of this has promised to call on you as he 
returns from Wilmington. 

'• Honorable George Read." 

This letter is indorsed, " Received 3d April, and an- 
swered same day." 

James Booth, the writer of the letter next laid before the 



* Tlie President of Delaware (article seven, Constitution of 1770) was 
clifj-ible by joint ballot of both the houses of the Legislature, and Joshua 
Clayton was chosen (30th May, 1789) to fill the vacancy by the death 
of Mr. Collins. 

f See Appendix D. 



476 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 

reader, had been for several years Clerk of tlie General 
Assembly of Delaware, was secretary to the convention 
which framed the Constitution of 1776, held several offices 
in New Castle County connected with the courts, and finally 
that of Chief Justice of the Court of Common Pleas, being 
the immediate successor of Richard Bassett for more than 
thirty years. He was a man of sound judgment, unspotted 
integrity, and, though not trained to the bar, of sufficient 
legal knowledge. His stature, features, and figure were 
good, and his dress and address those of an old-school gen- 
tleman. He was an influential Federalist, and was indebted 
for his high social position, not to his birth or family, wealth 
or influence, but to his exertion, perseverance, tact, and 
good conduct. He died 3d February, 1828, in the seventy- 
fifth year of his age,'^ lamented by his family, his friends, 
and the community in which he had lived from his child- 
hood. 

"New Castle, April 24th, 1789. 

" Sir, — As I suppose a system of commercial regulation 
and impost will be soon adopted by the United States, and 
that the State appointments in that department will of 
course cease, I beg leave to solicit you for a continuance in 
the Naval Office of this county, which I now hold. I was 
appointed to that office early in 1777, have been continued 
by subsequent appointments, and I flatter myself that during 
the time I have exercised the duties of it neither want of 
attention nor want of fidelity will be imputed to me. Under 
these circumstances I should feel great regret at being de- 
prived of this office by that government which I so anxiously 
wish to see permanently established. I hope, too, that no 
objections will arise to my appointment from, ray holding 
other offices, — they may diminish. The clerkship of the 
Assembly I shall be obliged to resign, from the inadequacy 
of the late allowance [for this office]. But if I am fortunate 
enough to succeed in my application, permit me to assure 
you that my conduct shall be marked by an unremitted 
attendance to the duties of the office, and that I shall retain 
the most grateful impression of the favor. Many applica- 
tions have, I understand, been made by persons residing in 
Wilmington, grounding their pretensions principally upon 

* Born 6th February, 1753. 



OF GEORGE READ. 477 

the position that the officer should reside in the place whore 
the business is to be transacted. The inhabitants of Wil- 
mington never have, to my knowledge, complained of in- 
convenience heretofore; it has been prevented by the 
business having been transacted there under my direction, 
and many of the trading-people have expressed to me their 
entire satisfaction. It must be confessed that almost all 
the foreign commerce carried on by the citizens of this 
State is from the borough [of Wilmington]; but I can 
allege, with as great truth, that as great and perhaps a 
greater number of vessels enter, during the summer and 
fall seasons, at New Castle, — generally those in the Irish 
trade and those bound to Philadelphia, where parts of 
their cargoes belong to Baltimore, stop at New Castle ; these, 
taken together, are at least equal to the number of vessels 
trading from Wilmington. The reasoning upon which 
these applications are grounded would not, I conceive, avail 
them in exclusion of others ; it would only go, if proper, to 
show that there ought to be an officer in every part of a 
district where importations can be made. When I speak 
of the applications from Wilmington, it is from information 
only. I am unable to ascertain whether they are for the 
Naval Office or others that are expected to be instituted 
under the revenue system of the United States. 

"I have no news to communicate worthy your attention. 
Our Supreme Court is over in this county,— two trials only 
were had during its sittings. 

" Mrs. Read and your family are very well. 

" I am, with every sentiment of respectful regard, sir, 
your most obedient, humble servant, 

„ "James Booth. 

"Honorable George Read, Esquire." 

A quorum of the House of Representatives having been 
obtained on the 1st, and of the Senate on the 6th, of April, 
the votes for President and Vice-President were counted by 
the Senate, and the election of Washington and Adams as- 
certained and declared. Charles Thomson bore to Goneri^l 
Washington the official announcement that his fellow- 
citizens had unanimously called him to the chief magistracy 
of the general government just established. He obeyed the 
call with diffidence unaffected, and the purpose to tread 



478 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 

the difficult path of duty it opened before him without de- 
flecting to the right or left from favor to any man, or fear 
of any, and with the resolve to devote to the service of his 
country all the ability God had endowed him with, and all 
the fruit of his long experience in public affairs. An enter- 
tainment and address from his immediate neighbors, es- 
pecially gratifying to him, awaited him at Alexandria, on 
the commencement of his journey to New York. He was 
escorted by troops of cavalry, and attended by committees, 
and addressed by municipal authorities, and greeted by 
thousands of his fellow-citizens with shouts of welcome, 
and ringing of bells, and salutes of artillery, and brilliant 
illuminations, as he passed, from Virginia, through Mary- 
land, Delaware, Pennsylvania, and Jersey. His receptions 
were most remarkable. At the Schuylkill, where, as he 
passed beneath a triumphal arch, a civic crown of laurel 
descended upon his head; and at Trenton, where, on the 
bridge crossing the little stream running through it (the 
Assanpink), was a triumphal arch (emblematical, I suppose, 
of the Union), supported by thirteen pillars, representing 
the thirteen States, wreathed with evergreens and flowers. 
As the Father of his Country passed beneath it, he was 
saluted by a band of ladies, each leading her daughter by 
the hand, clad in white, bearing a basket of beautiful and 
fragrant flowers, which they scattered before him, chanting 
an ode in his praise, which has been preserved, not ibr its 
merit, but the occasion for which it was written. There 
was not a spectator of this beautiful pageant who did not 
revert to the night of January, 1777, when the watch-fires 
of Washington's army mingled their gleams with those of 
the British, only separated from it by the Assanpink, the 
wailing night-winds, as they swept by, chilling the half- 
clothed American soldiers, who, by the brilliant generalship 
of their commander, — not slain, or prisoners, or fugitives, 
as Cornwallis expected, — when the sun of the next morn 
rose brightly upon them, entered Princeton to hold it as 
conquerors. At Elizabethtown-point, in Jersey, the Pres- 
ident-elect was received by a committee of Congress, and 
conveyed, in a splendid barge, rowed by thirteen pilots in 
wliite dresses, and escorted by many boats and barges filled 
with rejoicing citizens. Landing under salutes from the 
Battery in New York and the vessels in her harbor, he was 



OF GEORGE READ. 479 

escorted to the house of Governor Clinton, where he was 
sumptuously entertained, and, as soon as night shrouded 
the city, it was lighted up by brilliant fireworks. On the 
30th of April, 1780, General AYashington, on a balcony 
fronting the Senate-chamber, took his oath of office, in 
presence of thousands of his countrymen, who responded 
with loud and joyous shouts to the Chancellor of the State 
of New York, who, as the lips of the beloved and revered 
chief magistrate touched the sacred volume, splendidly 
bound in crimson and gold, exclaimed, "Long live George 
Washington, President of the United States !" The Presi- 
dent then returned to the Senate-chamber, and delivered 
his inaugural speech, and then, with both houses of Con- 
gress, repaired to St. Paul's Church, where divine service 
was performed by Bishop Provost of the Protestant Epis- 
copal Church in the United States. These patriots thus 
crowned this day, worthy to be held in perpetual remem- 
brance, with a solemn religious service, for they held the 
great truth, declared in most eloquent words by Franklin, 
in the convention that framed the constitution the}' had 
just inaugurated, " That God governs in the affairs of men, 
and, if a sparrow cannot fall without his notice, an empire 
cannot rise without his aid and blessing." 

James McHenry, the writer of the following letter, was 
appointed Secretary of War, by Washington, January 20th, 
1796. He was born in Maryland, educated as a physician, 
inherited a fortune, and had served, in the war just ter- 
minated, as an aid to Lafayette. The principal defence of 
Baltimore, a fort on the Patapsco, still bears his name.''' 

"Baltimore, 12tb May, 1789. 
'*SiR, — The bearer, Captain Barney,f of this place, whose 
distinguished conduct in the naval line is well known, 
wishes to devote his whole life to the service of his country, 
for which purpose he is desirous to obtain some appoint- 
ment, under the United States, congenial with his profes- 
sion, where he may remain till he can be more usefully 
employed. As it is likely cruisers will be put in connnis- 
sion to protect the trade, and to prevent frauds in the 

* Hildreth's History of tho United States, vol. i. p. 571. 
f For a notice of Commodore Barney, see Appeudi.x E. 



480 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 

revenue, permit me to recommend him to your good offices, 
as a person in every respect qualified for a commander of 
one of them. He is brave and prudent, an old Continental 
sea-captain, a skilful sailor, and of the strictest honor. 
Suffer me to request you to introduce him to your colleague, 
and to assure you of my most profound respect and esteem. 
I have the honor to be, sir, your most obedient servant, 

"James McHenry. 
" Honorable George Read." 

While the House of Representatives was engaged upon 
the bill providing revenue by duties upon imports, the 
Senate was considering the bill to establish the courts of 
the United States.* A copy of this bill was communicated 
by Messrs. Read and Bassett to John Dickinson and Gun- 
ning Bedford, requesting them to examine, and return it to 
them with such suggestions, in regard to its provisions, as 
they might think proper to make. 

"^"ew York, June 16th, 1189. 
" Dear Sir, — As the bill to establish the judicial courts 
of the United States is for the consideration of the Senate, 
Mr. Bassett and myself have thought it our duty to trans- 
mit the inclosed copy of the same to you for your perusal 
and comments upon its respective provisions, hoping that 
we may obtain them in time before the Senate shall have 
entered upon the third reading — the second reading being 
appointed for Monday next, as in a committee of the whole ; 
after which it is to be gone over on such its second reading 
in the Senate, as a house. Mr. Bassett and myself hope 
that we shall be favored in time with a return of the copy, 
with your observations thereon in its margin. And we 
must beg the favor of you to give the attornej^-general, Mr. 
Bedford, an opportunity to peruse and consider this copy, 
expecting^ his observations also. We are so restricted in 

* The Senate, on the 15th Mcay, 1789, carried into effect the pro- 
vision in the second clause, third section, article first of the Constitution 
of the United States, and Mr. Read was allotted to the class No. 1, whose 
seats would be vacated at the expiration of the second year from the 
time of their election, but was re-elected, and presented his credentials 
at the session of the Senate specially convened for the transaction of 
executive business, March 4th, 1791. — Journal of the Senate of the 
United Stales, pp. 25, 26, 324. See Appendix F. 



OF GEORGE READ. 481 

our number of copies that we could not afTord one to each 
of them. 

"The establishment intended by this bill is so important 
and general in its concern that the representation of the 
Delaware State in Congress wish to have the aid of all that 
information you, sir, and other law characters can or may 
please to afford them on this occasion. 

"Tlie same committee who reported this bill are pre- 
paring another, for prescribing and regulating the process 
of those respective courts. Another committee are em- 
ployed on a bill declaring crimes and offences against the 
United States and their punishments. 

''The impost bill has taken up much time in both houses. 
It IS now on its return to the Senate, with a disagreement 
to many of the amendments made there, which will proba- 
bly produce a conference. The bill for regulating the col- 
lectiori of the impost is yet in the House of Representatives 
in an incomplete State. ' 

"The minutes of the Senate, which are ordered to be 
printed monthly for pul)lication, are now at the press, and 
the public papers will disperse them shortly. 

" I came to this place in ill health, and continued so for 
some time. I am now tolerably well recovered, and shall be 
glad to hear of you and your family's good health, to all of 
whom please to give my most respectful compliments ; and 
I am, with much esteem, your most obedient and affection- 
ate, humble servant, 

,,mi TT "George Read. 

"Ine Honorable John Dickinson." 

Mr. Dickinson replied to this letter from 

"Wilmington, Juno 24th, 1T89. 

"My dear Friend,— Thy favor of the 16tli inst. I re- 
ceived on the 22d, in the evening, and am much obliged for 
that and the inclosure. 

" I have given the bill such imperfect attention as the 
shortness of time, weakness of health, frequency of inter- ' 
ruptions, and the novelty of its provisions would permit, 
and have made some notes in the margin, as you requested! 
I then sent it to the attorney-general, informing him that 
nis observations were expected. It is now returned. 



482 LIFE AND GORRESPONDENGE 

"There can be no doubt but that all the parts are very 
intelligible to gentlemen who have been present at their 
frequent discussion, know the intricacies of their mutual 
dependence and of their relation to the Constitution, but to 
me it appears the most difficult to be understood of any 
legislative bill I have ever read. 

" Is it possible or agreeable to the Constitution to estab- 
lish an appeal from the decisions of the Supreme Court in 
cases where that court has original, exclusive jurisdiction ? 
or is it right and best that the single determination of that 
court in such instances should be irreversible ? 

" I sincerely rejoice to hear of the re-establishment of thy 
health. Polly and Sally desire to be most respectfully pre- 
sented, and I am, as ever, thy truly affectionate friend, 

"John Dickinson. 

"George Read, Esquire, Senator, New York." 

The Attorney-General of Delaware, it appears from his fol- 
lowing letter to Mr. Read, entertained an opinion more favor- 
able to the proposed bill for establishing the courts of the 
United States than that expressed of it by Mr. Dickinson : 

"Wilmington, June 24th, 1789. 

"Dear Sir, — Your letter of the 16th only came to my 
hands this morning, and Mr. Dickinson last evening sent 
me a copy of the proposed law, with a request that I would 
make my observations on it and return it to him this morn- 
ing, to be sent back to New York by this day's post. 

" I should ill requite the honor done me by the com- 
munication, and but abuse the confidence reposed in me, 
were I to attempt any remarks on a subject of so much 
importance, so entirely new to me, with so little time for 
reading or reflection. To those who have thoroughly di- 
gested the whole system, and who have considered this as 
the foundation upon which the most grand and elegant 
superstructure of jurisprudence is to be built, crude and 
hasty thoughts can give no information. The objects are 
too extensive and complicated for me so immediately to 
understand that I might make a just criticism on this pro- 
posed bill. It appears to me a noble work, and must do 
the framers of it, as well as our government, great credit. 
I flatter myself our State governments will have wisdom 
enough to follow the example in new modelling their legal 
systems. 



OF GEORGE BEAD. 483 

"It will be very difiicult accurately to define the juris- 
diction of the Federal courts, so as to prevent controversies 
with the State courts. Indefinite expressions, unavoidably 
made use of, will create dilFiculties. Common law and 
statute law are referred to in the act. Have the States the 
same accurate and fixed idea of both or either as apjjlied to 
themselves individually or to the States generally ? Do we 
refer to the common law and statute law of England ? This 
is derogatory. What, then, is the common and statute law 
of the United States ? It is difficult to answer. Yet the 
dignity of America requires that it be ascertained, and that 
where we refer to laws they should be laws of our own 
country. If the principles of the laws of any country are 
good and worthy of adoption, incorporate them into 3'Our 
own. I think we ought not to refer, at this day, to the law 
of any nation as the rule of our conduct. This is the mo- 
ment for legal emancipation ; as the foundation is laid so 
must the superstructure be built. Pardon these observa- 
tions, sir, I am transgressing my own bounds. Your 
good sense would rather censure than approve (under my 
circumstances) any further remarks. 

" You will be pleased to present my respects to Mr. Bas- 
sett, and my acquaintance in Congress. 

" I am, with much respect and consideration, your most 
obedient humble servant, 

" Gunning Bedford, Junior.* 

"George Read, Esquire." 

The "common and statute law" referred to in the pro- 
posed act for establishing the courts of the United States 
were those of England, which w^ere, more or less, those of 
her North American colonists, who brought with them to 
their new abodes all the rights and privileges of English- 
men and their laws potentially, but actually when there 
were subjects for them to act upon ; but these laws were 
variously modified and altered in the several colonies. The 
common law, amended and ameliorated by statutes, is the 
general basis of the jurisprudence of all the States. Lou- 
isiana excepted, where the civil law is that basis ; and such 
parts of it are now in force as were adapted to the colonies, 

* For a notice of Gunuiug Bedford, see Appendix G. 



484 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 

and have been, since their settlement, recognized, used, and 
retained. Soon after the Constitution of the United States 
went into operation, the question was raised whether or not 
the common biw of England was adopted in the United 
States by its establishment, or is the law of these States in 
their national capacity. It was, with reason, contended 
" that the framers of the Constitution, upon which so much 
labor was expended to enumerate ar>d define the powers 
therein granted, could never have intended to introduce in 
mass, indirectly and by forced construction of a few 
phrases, the vast and multifarious jurisdiction of the com- 
mon law, and thus sap its foundation as a system of speci- 
fied and limited powers," giving to the Federal courts 
unlimited jurisdiction, and to the other departments of the 
United States government unlimited powers. The true 
doctrine seems to be this : " The maxims and rules of pro- 
ceeding of the common law are to be adhered to wherever 
the written law. is silent in cases the cognizance whereof is 
vested in the United States courts, or of a similar or anal- 
ogous nature, so that it may govern and direct the course 
of proceeding in such cases, but cannot give jurisdiction in 
any case where it is not expressly given by the Constitu- 
tion ;" and so it may regulate (the United States statute 
law being silent) the exercise of the powers conferred by 
the Constitution upon the other departments of the govern- 
ment, but can confer none upon them.* 

"In the debate in the United States Senate, July 15th, 
1789, upon the President's constitutional power of remov- 
ing from office, Mr. Read said : 

" ' The President is to take care that the laws be faith- 
fully executed ; he is responsible. How can he do his duty, 
or be responsible, if he cannot remove his instruments? 
It is not an unequal sharing of the power of appointment 
between the President and the Senate : the Senate is only 
a check to prevent impositions on the President. The 
minister, a deputy or agent of the Executive. Difficult to 
bring a great character to trial and punishment.' 

" The yeas and nays were : yeas, — Bassett, Carroll, Dal- 
ton, Elmer, Henry, Morris, Patterson, Read, Strong — 9 ; 

* Tucker's Blackstone, Part i. Appendix, note E; Encyclopaedia 
Americana, vol. iii. p. 394. 



OF GKORGE BEAD. 485 

nays, — Few, Grayson, Green, Johnson, Izard, Langdon, 
Lee, Maclay, Wingate — 9, 

'•The Vice-President gave his vote for the power of re- 
moval being in the President, and so decided the question, 
and the country acquiesced in his decision ; and this power 
has been exercised ever since, though this question has 
subsequently been agitated at intervals, and is liable to be 
so whenever a majority of the Senate may be in opposition 
to a new President coming in upon a revolution in public 
opinion." — Writings of John Adams, \o\. ii. pp. 407-409; 
Benton s Abridgment of the Debates in Congress, pp. 8G— 92, 
and 102-109. 

John Penn in the following letter confides to Mr. Read 
the management of the affairs of his family in Delaware : 

" London, Upper Wimpole Street, July 22d, 1789. 

" Dear Sir, — I take the liberty of troubling you with a 
letter to beg your friendly assistance in the management of 
our affairs in the State of Delaware, as we are desirous of 
bringing all our business in America to a settlement, and 
should be extremely obliged to you if you will be kind 
enough to advise any of our friends, wliom we shall desire 
to apply to you, what will be the proper method of pro- 
ceeding. We are in expectation of receiving some compen- 
sation from government, but I am afraid, from the great 
deductions that will be made upon it, it will not be very 
considerable. 

" I hope you go on prosperously in the establishment of 
your new government, and that you ma}^ soon get clear of 
the clouds that were hanging over you when I left America; 
and though my own interest would naturally lead me to 
this wish, I assure you I should be happy to hear of this 
event for the sake of America in general, and particularly 
for the few friends I have left there. 

" I hope you will excuse the trouble I give you. which 
proceeds from the confidence I have in your judgment, and 
from our long acquaintance I presume upon your friendly 
disposition towards me. 

" I am, dear sir, your sincere friend and obedient servant, 

"John Penn."-= 

* Tlic oldest son of Thomas Penn, son of "William Penn and Hannah 
Calluwhill, and who was proprietor of two-thirds of Pennsylvania, lie 



486 I^IFE AND COBRESPONDENGE 

There was much competition for the offices to be estab- 
lished under the new general government. Applications 
for offices had even been made to General Washington be- 
fore his inauguration and while yet at Mount Vernon. 
With that nice sense of propriety which he manifested in 
every situation, he declined the promise of appointment to 
all the applicants, having "determined to go into office 
free from all engagements, of every nature whatsoever." — 
MarsltaUs Life of Washington, vol. v. pp. 151, 152. 

Edward Shippen, so strongly recommended for the office 
of District Judge in Pennsylvania in the letters which fol- 
low, was born in Philadelphia, February 6th, 1729. His 
great-grandfather, Edward Shippen, came to Boston, from 
England, in 1675, and was the first mayor of Philadelphia. 
The son of this gentleman, Joseph, was the father of Ed- 
ward Shippen, originally a merchant, but elevated to the 
bench before and after our Revolution, in which he took an 
active part. His son, Edward Shippen, completed his edu- 
cation for the bar at the Middle Temple, London, and was 
admitted to practice in the Pennsylvania courts in Septem- 
ber, 1750. His legal knowledge was extensive. He was 
appointed a judge of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania in 
1701, and Chief Justice in 1799, at the age of seventy, and 
was a safe and excellent judge. "He was an agreeable, 
prepossessing gentleman, of dignified personal appearance, 
and beloved and venerated by all who knew him." In De- 
cember, 1805, feeling the infirmities of age, he resigned, to 
secure a brief space to prepare for death, which he met, April, 
1806, with the faith and submission of a Christian, full of 
years, honored and lamented.'^ 

was in Philadelphia after the Revolution. He had a particular nervous 
affection about him, such as was sometimes distressing to himself and 
others, and was, besides, near-sighted. He built the place called " Soli- 
tude," over Schuylkill. He was still alive in 1830, and wrote occasionally 
to Watson, author of "Annals of Philadelphia," on subjects relating- to 
that city, and bad then in his possession a great collection of his grand- 
father's papers, in fine preservation and regularly filed and endorsed, 
which it was expected would some day be published to elucidate" 
family and civil history. John Penn was the Avealthy proprietor and 
resident of Stoke Poges Park, in the country, and of the mansion- 
house of Spring Garden, in London. — Watson^s Annals of Philadel- 
phia, p. 115. 

* Hall's Journal of Jurisprudence, vol. i. p. 67 ; The Forum, by 
David Paul Brown, vol. i. pp. 324-326. 



OF GEORGE BEAD. 



487 



Philadelphia, September 22(], 1789. 
Dear Sir,— Although I have not had the pleasure of 
corresponding with jou since you have taken your seat at 
JNew lork, yet I cannot deny myself the satisfaction of 
communicatuig my sentiments to you on a subject in which 
1 leel myself interested. That department of government 
in which you take your station as a Senator will, I hope 
in your opinion, render the matter not altogether foreio-n to 
your consideration; if it should [be so], I must rely on the 
acquaintance I have heretofore enjoyed with you as mv 
apology. ■^ 

_ '' For some time past, sir, the appointment of a district 
judge for Pennsylvania has excited the attention and in- 
quiries of the greater part of the lawyers here. They have 
observed that its complicated duties require an acquaintance 
with the common law as well as the civil and maritime 
As they wish, for their own ease, happiness, and interest,* 
that the seat may be filled with dignity, they have been 
apprehensive lest the office should be given to the gentle- 
man who formerly held the appointment of Jud<Te of the 
Admiralty here, upon the principle of not taking away office 
trom tlie former possessor. Their apprehensions arise not 
Irom any personal dislike to Mr. Ilopkinson, but from a 
conviction that Mr. Edward Shippen possesses far superior 
knowledge and capacity for the station. They are induced 
to believe the appointment would not be rejected by him 
though he has too much modesty and merit to push himself 
forward in order to obtain it. Upon these grounds, Mr. 
Lewis, Mr. Tilghman, the Attorney-General, Mr. Kawl and 
many other of the gentlemen [of the bar] have formed 
strong wishes that the office should be conferred on Mr 
fehippen. I very cheerfully confess myself one of this num- 
ber, Irom the knowledge and experience I have had of both 
the gentlemen [thought of for this office]. I mention these 
circumstances in confidence, though I am not unwillin- 
openly to avow them, if it should be necessary. ° 

"You will pay, sir, such attention to this communication 
as you may think most proper. I am prevented from sav- 
M° r'.!i ^^ ^ii^ necessity I am under of going out with 
Mr. Matthew Pearce and Mr. John Kead, your son, who 
are now waiting. 



488 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 

" I hope you will believe me to be, with all due considera- 
tion, sir, your most obedient servant, 

" Moses Levy.* 
" George Read, Esquire." 

' "Philadelphia, September 21st, 1189. 

" Dear Sir, — I cannot refrain from again mentioning to 
you Mr. Shippen as a gentleman in every respect qualified 
for the seat of district judge of this State. It is generally 
supposed that another gentleman stands for this appoint- 
ment. There is no sort of comparison between the two. 
This is not my opinion alone, but that of every lawyer I 
have conversed with on the subject. Mr. Shippen has not 
applied for the office, but will accept it with pleasure, and 
is beyond all doubt much better qualified for it than any 
other man in this State who will accept it. To you I may 
in confidence say that the other (F. H.) is not competent. 
I say this not from my own experience, but from the voice 
of the bar, without exception, that I know of, unless Mr. 
Wilson may be of another opinion, which I rather suspect 
to be the case, from their intimacy and friendship. I 
assure you most solemnly 1 have no other motive than a 
desire that so important a station should be properly filled, 

and most sincerely pity the family of Mr. H , nor have 

I entertained any the least disgust against him on any score 
whatever. 

" If you see no impropriety in communicating my senti- 
ments to the President, be pleased to make them known to 
him. 

"This matter did not originate with Mr. Shippen ; it pro- 
ceeds from some gentlemen of this bar. 

" I am not upon such a footing with any of the delegates 
from Pennsylvania as to justify an application to them. 
This you will consider as also made to Mr. Bassett. 
" I am, dear sir, your very aftectionate friend, 

" Edward Tilghman.-]- 

" Honorable George Eead, Esquire." 



* An eminent lawyer of Philadelphia. See Appendix H. 
f Mr. Tilghman adds to what he urged, as above, in a letter to Mr. 
Read, written 23d September, "that if the sense of the bar should be 



OF GEORGE READ. 489 

Richard Peters received the appointment of United States 
District Judge for Pennsylvania. 

It appears by the following letter of Mr. Dickinson — the 
last of Mr. Read's correspondence for 1789 which has been 
preserved — that he was suffering inconvenience, though in 
no peril of eventual loss, from his having lent his credit to 
sustain that of Delaware, in 1782. This letter has a char- 
acteristic of Mr. Dickinson's letters whenever the subject 
was of interest or importance — earnestness : 

"Wilmington, October 31st, 1789. 

" My dear Friend, — The bond which I gave in June, 
1782, to Robert Morris, Esquire, to satisfy him for one 
thousand pounds borrowed for the use of this State, has 
been lately assigned by him to Edward Tilghman, and 
there remains a balance of two hundred and eighty-three 
pounds and three pence, principal, still due, with interest on 
that from the 19th of July, 1787. 

"The former treasurers, Drs. Til ton and Clayton, have, 
by payments, in pursuance of the resolution of the Legis- 
lature on the 21st of June, 1783, so far reduced the debt. 

" The assignee positively insists upon my immediate pay- 
ment of the residue, and threatens to sue if his demand is 
not directly complied with. 

"Thus I find myself unexpectedly distressed and embar- 
rassed. 

" I have written to the present treasurer, and he has 
assured me, by the auditor-general, that this debt shall be 
the first paid out of the taxes now collecting, after paying 
one hundred and fifty pounds to the Chief Justice. But 
the affair is of so much consequence to me that I wish to 
strengthen, by all possible means, the treasurer in his 
declaration of speedily doing me justice. 

" I therefore desire to be favored with a letter to the 
president and another to the treasurer, expressing thy 
sentiments and those of the Legislature on this subject, 
since it was first laid before them, and urging the most 
early measures for extricating me from my very disagree- 

requcstcd, it would certainly be warmly in favor of Mr. Sliippon, and 
would have been sent to the President, but for doubts of the propriety 
of so doing." 

32 



490 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 

able situation. The late presidents, Van Dyke and Collins, 
were solicitous that this debt should have been long since 
paid. 

" I shall be exceedingly obliged if this affair can be so 
represented that I may be soon relieved from an uneasiness, 
caused by the purest zeal for the welfare of the State. 

" I propose to set off next Wednesday morning for Kent, 
I can then call for an answer, or the bearer may now wait. 
I should prefer the first way of receiving it. 

" I am thy ever affectionate friend, 

"John Dickinson. 

"George Read, Esquire, New Castle." 

Mr. Read enjoyed a brief interval between the termina- 
tion of the first session of the first Congress of the United 
States, September 29th, 1789, and the commencement of 
the second session of that body, which was devoted to his 
family and his professional and private business, cheered 
by the general approval of the late proceedings of the 
national legislature, the principal of which were the acts 
providing revenue, constituting the Federal judiciary, 
organizing the executive departments, and defining crimes 
cognizable under the authority of the United States, and 
their punishment, and the adopting amendments to the 
Constitution, which were submitted to the States. These 
labors having been most fitly terminated by their recom- 
mendation of the observance of a day of thanksgiving to 
Almighty God for his many signal and unmerited f\ivors, 
and especially for the opportunity vouchsafed to establish, 
in peace, a government which would, with his blessing, 
insure safety, liberty, strength, and happiness to their 
countrymen, and while it won their love, receive, as it 
deserved, the admiration of the nations among which the 
United States had taken their place.'^' 

* Mr. Read participated considerably in the business of the commit- 
tees of the Senate in 1789, as appears by the following entries on one 
page of the Journal of that body in that year : 

" Monday, September 28th, USD.— Mr. Read, on behalf of the com- 
mittee appointed on the bill entitled ' An act to explain and amend an 
act for registering and clearing of vessels, regulating the coasting trade, 
and other purposes,' reported an amendment. 

"JNIr. Read, on behalf of the committee appointed on the bill entitled 
' An act amending part of an act to regulate the collection of duties on 



OF GEORGE READ. 491 

tonnage and on goods, wares, and merchandise imported into the United 
States.' reported non-concurrence, and the hill did not jjas^J. 

" Mr. Read, on l)chalf of the committee aj)pointed upon the hill entitled 
'An act to recognize and adapt to the Constitution of the United States 
the estahlishnient of the troops rained under the United States in Con- 
gress assembled, and for other purposes,' reported amendments [which 
were adopted]. 

" Mr. Read, on behalf of the committee appointed on the bill entitled 
'An act for the payment of invalid pensioners,' reported concurrence." 
— Journal of the First Session of tlie United States Senate, vol. i. 
pp. 58, 91. 

The labors of committees, not having been performed under the eyes 
of the public, have seldom been appreciated as they deserved, though to 
their unseen and inglorious toils belonged often the whole merit of the 
best legislative acts. Men look admiringly upon the grand or graceful 
fayade of a stately building, with its swelling dome or tapering spire, 
without a thought of its invh'Me foandat ion, constructed perhaps with 
much architectural skill, or laid at least with great cost of time, labor, 
and mone}", and essential to its existence. 

Mr. Read was upon other committees on important subjects, — for 
example, on the one appointed to report the bill " defining crimes cog- 
nizable under the authority of the United States, and their punishment," 
— Journal of the Senate of the United States, vol. i. p. 25. 



492 LIFE AND COBBESPONDENGE 



APPENDICES TO CHAPTER VI. 



1T87. — An act appointing deputies from this State [Delaware] to the 
convention proposed to be held in the city of Philadelphia for the pur- 
pose of revising the Federal Constitution. 

Preamble. Whereas, The General Assembly of this State are fully 
convinced of the necessity of revising the Federal Constitution, and 
adding thereto such further provisions as may render the same more 
adequate to the exigencies of the Union ; and whereas, the Legislature 
of Virginia have already passed an act of that Commonwealth appoint- 
ing and authorizing certain commissioners to meet at the city of Phila- 
delphia in May next, — a convention of commissioners or deputies from 
the different States, — and this State being willing and desirous of co- 
operating with the Commonwealth of Virginia, and the other States in 
the Confederation, in so useful a design ; 

Section 1. Be it therefore enacted by the General Assembly of 
Delaware, That George Read, Gunning Bedford, John Dickinson, 
Richard Bassett, and Jacob Broom, Esquires, are hereby appointed 
deputies from this State to meet in the convention of the deputies of 
other States to be held at the city of Philadelphia on the 2d day of May 
next. And the said George Read, Gunning Bedford, John Dickinson, 
Richard Bassett, and Jacob Broom, or any three of them, are hereby 
constituted and appointed deputies from this State to meet such depu- 
ties as may be appointed and authorized by the other States to as- 
semble in the said convention at the city aforesaid, and to join with 
them in deliberating and discussing such alterations and further pro- 
visions as may be necessary to render the Federal Constitution adequate 
to the exigencies of the Union, and in reporting such act or acts for that 
purpose to the United States in Congress assembled, as, when agreed 
to by them and duly confirmed by the several States, may effectually 
provide for the same ; so always, and provided that such alterations 
or further provisions, or any of them, do not extend to that part of the 
fifth article of the Confederation of the said States, finally ratified on 
the 1st day of March, in the year 1*781, which declares that in deter- 
mining questions in the United States in Congress assembled, each 
State shall have one vote. 

Section 2. And be it enacted. That in case any of the deputies hereby 
nominated shall happen to die, or to resign his or their appointment, the 
President or Commander-in-Chief, with the advice of the Privy Council, 
in the recess of the General Assembly, is hereby authorized to supply 
such vacancies. 

Passed February 3d, 1187. — Laivs of Delaware, vol. ii. chap, cxlviii. 
B., pp. 892, 893. 



OF GEOBQE READ. 493 



NOTICE OF NICHOLAS VAN DYKE. 

Nicholas Van Dyke, a distingiiishetl lawyer of Delaware, was bora 
at New Castle, Delaware, 8th December, 1770, and died May 21st, 
1826, in the fifty-sixth year of his age. In the catalogue of the gradu- 
ates of Nassau Hall, I find his name in the class whicli graduated in 
1788, in which appears that of Smith Thomson, Secretary of the Navy, 
and Judge of the Supreme Court of the United States. 

Mr. Van Dyke studied law in the office of his brother-in-law, Chief 
Justice Johns, was admitted to the bar in 1791, and soon obtained a 
large practice. 

If surpassed by some of his contemporaries (inferiors to few, if any, 
members of the bar throughout the Union) in profound knowledge of 
the law, and in dialectical power, he was a sound lawyer, and superior 
to them all as a fluent, graceful, and successful advocate, and in the 
skilful management of his cases. 

He never lost his predilection for general literature, and always found 
time for miscellaneous reading. He was remarkable for the ease and 
elegance of his manners and conversational powers, and for his taste in 
architecture, and fondness for indulging it, having erected two large 
and fine houses in New Castle, and two in its vicinity, — his ample for- 
tune enabling him to gratify this taste, at once elegant and useful, 
without inconvenience. 

In the latter period of his life ho was a ruling elder of the Presby- 
terian Church and took an active part in its affairs, thus superadding 
to his pure moral character the crowning ornament of piety. 

He was elected to the Legislature of Delaware in 1799; to the 
United States House of Representatives in 1809 ; to the Senate of 
Delaware in 1815, and to the United States Senate in 1817 ; and, hav- 
ing been re-elected, was, when he died, a member of that body, — in 
which he not only maintained but increased the high reputation of the 
representatives of Delaware for statesmanship and ability as debaters 
in the national legislature. He was of the Federal party. 



Ol. 
NOTICE OF EDMUND RANDOLPH. 

Edmund Randolph, eminent as a lawyer and a statesman, filled 
oEBces of the highest responsibility. At the head of his profession, he 
was for several years Attorney-General of Virginia and then Governor 
of that State, and, still in this office, was elected a member of the con- 
vention which formed the Constitution of the United States, and opened 



494 LIFE AND COBBESPONDENGE 

the business confided to that assemblv by submitting the project of a 
new constitution, known as the Yirginia plan, and took a prominent part 
in its proceedings, Upon the expiration of his term of service as cbief 
magistrate of Virginia he was elected a member of her Legislature, 
and from thence appointed by Washington Attorney-General of the 
United States. In 1793 he was transferred to the higher post of Sec- 
retary of State, upon the resignation of Mr. Jefferson. In 1795 Mr. 
Randolph was so far misled by party feeling and his predilection for 
France as to make communications to the French minister which the 
President considered so reprehensible that they called forth his strong 
disapprobation, on which Mr. Randolph resigned, and attempted to 
justify this abuse of his official position by representing himself as 
sacriliced to England and the aristocrats who espoused her cause, for 
his devotion to liberty and the French republic. He may not have 
made the overtures to Fauchet from which it was infei-red that he 
was willing, with some of his friends, to be in the pay of France; 
but his needy circumstances, and his retiring from office a defaulter, 
gave countenance to the suspicion the intercepted despatch of the French 
envoy excited, and at all events he cannot be acquitted of tortuous 
conduct, and even intrigue with the Democratic leaders and French 
minister, inconsistent with his official position and consequent relations 
to the administration. 

John, the father of Edmund Randolph, held the office of Attorney- 
General of Virginia, and at the commencement of the American Revo- 
lution sided with the royalists and withdrew with his family to Eng- 
land. His brother, Peyton, declared for the Whigs, succeeded him as 
Attorney-General, and was eminent for his ability, zeal, and success in 
offices. State and national, to which his fellow-citizens elected him. 
Being childless, he adopted Edmund as his son. 

Edmund entered the college of Williamsburg soon after Jefferson 
graduated there ; and that eminent man being, with several of his 
fellow-students afterwards distinguished, infected with the infidelity 
imported from France, they unhappily left the taint of this poison behind 
them. Edmund was for a time led astray by the sophistries and arts 
of the infidels of his college ; but, escaping from their toils, turned his 
back upon their theories, unfounded in truth as barren of utility, and 
upon their dreary prospects, and took honorable position among the 
champions of religion and the churcli. 

He was one of the eminent lawyers who ably maintained, but unsuc- 
cessfully, that the law by which the churches in Virginia were robbed 
of their glebes was unconstitutional. 

Towards the close of his life his residence was with his son-in-law, 
Bennett Taylor, in Frederick County. Bishop Meade, during this 
residence, had conversation with him, and states that he was deeply 
interested in religious subjects. 

He died at Carter Hall, the seat of Colonel Nathaniel Burwell, and 
■\vas interred in the ancient grave-yard of Frederick parish. — Alan^halVs 
Life of Wa^hinglon, vol. v. note 17, p. 30, pp. 214, 630; HildreUVs 
Hi^lory of the United States, vol. i. pp. 516, 556, 561 ; Old Churches 
and Families in Virginia, vol. ii. pp. 292, 293. 

William Wirt, who practised with Edmund Randolph in courts of 
Virginia, and had ample opportunity for studying his character, intel- 



OF GEORGE HEAD. 495 

lectual and moral, draws a portrait of this eminont citizen (of tho out- 
ward and inner man) in his " Letters of a British Spv" (ad. 1803), 
Letter 1, a work so popular that ten editions of it, perhaps more, have 
been i)nl)Iished : 

" ^iv. Kdnnind Randolph has great personal advantages. A fiirure 
large and portly; his features uncommonly fine; his dark eyes and his 
whole countenance lighted up with an expression of the most concili- 
ating sensibility ; his attitudes dignified and commanding; his gesture 
easy and graceful ; his voice perfect harmony; and his whole manner 
that of an accomplished and engaging gentleman. I have reason to 
believe that the expression of his countenance does no more than justice 
to his heart. If I am correctly informed, his feelings are exquisite, and 
the proofs of his benevolence are various and clear, beyond the possi- 
bility of doubt. He has long maintained a most respectable raidv in 
his profession, and is esteemed by the people a great lawyer and an 
eloquent speaker. 

" To me it seems his mind is turned rather for ornament than for 
severe use. His speeches deserve, T think, the censure which Lord 
Yerulam pronounces on the writers po.9terior to the reformation of the 
church. 'Luther,' says he, 'standing alone against the Church of 
Rome, found it necessary to awake all antiquity in his behalf; this in- 
troduced the study of the dead languages and a taste for the Ciceronian 
manner, and hence the prevailing error of hunting more after words 
than matter, and more after the choiceness of the phrase and the round 
and clean composition of the sentence, and the sweet falling of the 
clauses, and the varying and illustration of their works with tropes and 
figures, than after the weight of matter, worth of subject, soundness of 
argument, life of invention, or depth of judgment.' Mr. Randolph's 
temper and habits lead him to the stately and swelling manner of IJol- 
ingbroke ; but, either from want of promptitude and richness of concep- 
tion or too sedulous hunting after words, he does not maintain that 
manner smoothly and happily; on the contrary, the spirits of his 
hearers, after having been awakened and put in pleasant motion, have 
their tide checked by the hesitation and perplexity of the speaker. 

"All the arguments I have ever heard from him are defective in the 
important and most material character, — the lucidus ordo. I suspect 
that in the preparatory arrangement of his subject he gains his ground 
by slow and laborious gradations, and that his difiiculties are numerous 
and embarrassing. Hence it is, perhaps, that his points are generally 
too multifarious, and although among the rest he exhibits the strong 
point, its appearance is too often like that of Lssachar, bowed down 
between two burdens. I incline to believe that if there be a blemish in 
his mind, it is the want of a strong and masculine judgment, manifested 
in his selection of cases seized by his adversaries and turned against him. 
He is certainly a man of close and elaborate research." 



496 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 

02. 
NOTICE OF CHARLES THOMSON. 

Charles Thomson was born in Ireland, November, 1129, of respect- 
able parents. About 1140, his father, with himself and three older 
brothers, embai'ked for America. His father, having been sick during 
the voyage, died, off the capes of Delaware. " I stood by my expiring 
father," said Charles Thomson to John F. Watson, years after, "closed 
his eyes, and performed other duties of filial piety to him." Dying so 
near land, his corpse might have been kept for interment on shore, but 
the captain of the ship cast it into the sea to save expense, which would 
diminish the property the parent left behind him and which he designed 
in part to appropriate, and did embezzle, as Charles and his orphan 
brothers believed. They were landed at New Castle, Delaware, with 
little property, which the unprincipled captain said was all their father 
had, thus despoiling children who, orphans, friendless, and strangers in 
a strange land, could not assert their rights. Charles was placed, Avhen 
he landed at New Castle, in the family of a blacksmith, who was so 
much pleased with his intelligence, courtesy, and energy that he de- 
signed to have him bound to him as an apprentice. Hearing him, in 
conversation with his wife at night, say he should carry this intention 
into effect the next day, Charles, whose antecedent state had been far 
superior to that which was designed for him, left the blacksmith's house 
at the dawn of that day. He took the road to Wilmington, a boy, ten 
years old, trudging manfully along, with his bundle of scanty clothes. 
An inquisitive lady, as the sun arose, overtook him, and, interested by 
his manly bearing, asked his name, where he was travelling, and why. 
Even the fear of being taken back to the blacksmith did not overbear 
his love and habit of truthfulness. He recounted his brief history, and 
his aspiration for a liberal education which might fit him for some occu- 
pation more congenial to his feelings than the trade from which he was 
escaping. This kind woman was at once interested for the young trav- 
eller, and obtained his admission into the school taught by the Reverend 
Doctor Allison, at Thutider-Hill, in the province of Maryland, and of 
high repute. Charles's eldest brother generously provided him, as far as 
he could, with money ; and his gratitude was manifested, at a later 
period of his life, by the gift of a farm in Delaware to this benefactor. 
One of Mr. Thomson's fellow-students at this seminary was George 
Read. They soon became warm friends, and so continued through the 
trying scenes of the Revolution, in which they were prominent actors, 
and until the death of Mr. Read, in 1198. Classical books, as neces- 
sary to learners as tools to mechanics, were so scarce that Dr. Allison's 
pupils had but one lexicon among them. Charles Thomson told Watson 
"that, having accidentally got hold of some loose leaves of the 'Spec- 
tator,' by which he learned its name and style, he so longed to possess 
the whole work that he walked all night to Philadelphia to buy it, did 
so, and walked back in time not to miss his lessons in his class; and 
that, after he was initiated in Greek, he walked to Amboy, and to his 



OF GEORGE READ. 497 

home again, to visit a British officer there, a stranger to him, becansc he 
was reported to be a fine Greek scholar." His first passion for Greek litera- 
ture, he told Watson, was the result of an apparently accidental occur- 
rence. Passing an auction store in Philadelphia, he heard the offer of an 
"outlandish book" for sale, which he bought for a trifle. It was part of 
the Greek Sepluagint. When he mastered it enough to understand it 
he was very anxious to obtain the whole, but could get no copy of the 
coveted book until, strange to tell, in the interval of two vears, pa.ssiu"- 
the same store and looking in, he actnally saw the remainder selliuf* 
which he joyfully bought for a few pence.* From these anecdotes may 
be inferred his ardent desire for knowledge, his energy and perseve- 
rance. He completed his course of study at Thunder-Hill, and set- 
tled in Philadelphia, with such knowledge of Latin, Greek, mathematics 
and whatever else as was taught at Thunder-Hill. He was appointed 
assistant teacher in the first Philadelphia academy, being solicited by 
Dr. Franklin to accept this office, because esteemed among the best 
scholars of his day. He taught in this seminary until he married. t He 
was also, for several years before the Revolution, actively engaged in 
iron-works at Egg Harbor, New Jersey. From the beginning Sf the 
contest of the North American colonies with England, he sided with 
the Whigs. The very night the British Parliament passed the stamp- 
act, Franklin wrote to Charles Thomson, " The sun of liberty is set,— 
we must light the lamps of industry and economy." To winch he an- 
swered, "Be assured, we shall light torches of another sort."t They 
did,— the torches of war; and they lighted them to liberty, glory, and 
independence. It has been asserted, but not, to my knowledge, proved 
that he originated the opposition to the stamp-act. He was secretary 
to the assembly of colonial delegates, who met in New York in 1765 
commonly called the Stamp-act Congress. He was qualified for this 
office, not only by probity, ability, and education, but bv his skill then 
rare, in short-hand writing, and discharged his duties so satisfactorily 
that when the first Congress, held in Philadelphia, a.d. 1774 met all 
eyes were fixed on him as the fittest person for the secretaryship of 
that august body. He was unanimously elected thereto, and the cir- 
cumstances of the notification of this honor, and his acceptance of it 
were remarkable. I write them in the words of his friend Watson • 
"He had then lately married Miss Harrison (the heiress to the estate 
of Harriton, near the city) [of Philadelphia], and arriving there in his 
carriage, with his wife, had just alighted, when a message came to him 
from the President of Congress that he must see him immediatelv He 
went, not conceiving what it could be for, and was told they wished him 
to take their minutes. He set to it as a temporary aflair, but in fact 
the service so commenced continued throughout the whole war. As no 
compensation was received for the first service. Congress presented him 
with a silver urn as their gift, and as a compliment to his lady for 
having so unexpectedly deprived her of the attentions of her husband 
the morning after their marriage, on their way to pay their respects to 
his aunt and her family. She was asked what the present should be, 

* Collections of the Pennsylvania Historical Society, vol, i. pp. 88 89 

t Encyclopasdia Americana, vol. xii. p. 238. 

X Niles's Register, vol. ix. (New Scries) pp. lG-101. 



498 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 

and chose an urn. As secretary of Congress, at that eventful period, 
he possessed very much of that confidence and general intelligence 
respecting the secret machinery of government which now more 
properly pertains to the secretary of state. Never changing his office, 
nor losing his opportunities for information and service, as did the 
meniljers who depended, for their places, on their elections, he became, 
in time, their common friend and common depositary of State-secrets 
and measures. Hence, John Jay, when minister to Spain, wn'ote, April, 
1*781, to him, 'I wish you were, also, secretary of foreign affairs; I 
should then have better sources of information ;' and from Passy, 19th 
July, 1788, 'When I consider that no person in the world is so perfectly 
acquainted with the rise, conduct, and conclusion of the American 
Revolution as yourself, I cannot but wish you would bestow but one 
hour a day to give posterity a true account of it.' After 1789, when he 
retired to ' Harriton,' he gathered valuable and curious papers for such 
history, but, after writing many pages of it, destroyed them, alleging 
as his reason his unwillingness to blur the reputation of many families, 
then rising in credit and esteem, whose progenitors must have had a 
bad reputation in his contemplated book. During the Revolution many 
reports were in circulation [questionable and questioned], but when 
they came in a congressional paper, sanctioned by his name [doubt and 
speculation ceased], and men said, here comes truth. Such was the 
trust in his veracity."* 

He discharged the duties of the secretaryship, so long confided to him, 
with far more than common ability and faithfulness, and to the general 
satisfaction of Congress and his countrymen. But when there are par- 
ties in a country and its legislature, as there Avere in ours, even in the 
very infancy of our government, suspicion assails, and prejudice mis- 
judges and misrepresents her officers, however faithful and competent. 
This fate Charles Thomson did not escape. John Adams in his Diaryf 
intimates bias in the secretary of Congress on account of his connec- 
tion with John Dickinson, and thence with those he calls the cold party 
in that body, Avhich led him to omit all motions in committee of the 
whole, which did not prevail and were not reported to Congress, by 
which was evaded the appearance of subjects they disliked on the 
journals. Mr. Thomson thus conclusively, I think, repelled this 
charge: "I was unexpectedly called into Congress, and the President 
informed me that they had chosen me to take their minutes. I bowed 
and said I awaited their pleasure. After a short silence a person| 
dressed in gray arose and spoke (I supposed he was a Presb3^terian 
clergyman). He said : ' We are here upon an occasion of great diffi- 
culty and distress, — like the friends of a man in deep embarrassment 
assembled to suggest measures for his relief He would suggest one 
thing, a second [speaker], something else better, and a third, some- 
thing still better, which he would embrace and think no more of rejected 
schemes.' I thought this a very good instruction to me as to taking 
the minutes. What Congress adopted I committed to writing; with 
what they rejected I had nothing further to do ; and even this method 

e 

* Collections of the Pennsylvania Historical Society, vol. i. pp. 90, 91. 
f Writings c'f John Adams, vol, ii. pp. 29, 30, note. 
X Patrick Henry. 



OF GEORGE READ. 499 

led to some squabbles with members who were desirous of having their 

speeches and motions — however put to rest by the majority still 

preserved upon the minutes."* Mr. Thomson's <Jood sense ledliim to 
adopt the parliamentary rule.f — that ahorlive motions are not entered 
on the journals of legishitures, except when the veas, nays by the con- 
stitutions of the United States, or the States of this Confederacy, are 
called : " a rule founded in great prudence and good sen.se, asthere 
may bo many questions proposed which it would be improper to pub- 
lish in the form in which they were niade."| 

This charge of John Adams is without foundation. Able, honest, 
and patriotic, he was irascible, indiscreet, and very liable to party bias, 
as appears by his Diary. 

As soon as the first Congress of the United States was organized, 
Mr. Thomson was appointed to inform General Washington of his elec- 
tion to the Presidency of the United States: and he discharged this 
duty. lie declined office, though asked to accept it under the new 
government, "Believing" — I use his own words— "that the suitable 
hour for his retirement was come." Being sensible of some decadence 
of body and mind, " he wisely withdrew from the throng of competitors 
for the glittering but empty prizes of ambition, mingling with whom 
hoary-headed men are unseemly spectacles." He held with Hesiod: 

" Let enterprise the j'oiing engage ; 
Counsel the niiiture, — 
Prayer is the proper business of old age," — 

prayer, with the study of the sacred Scriptures, and meditation on their 
precious contents, — insejiarable from it when sincere. He had an ad- 
ditional motive to the one above mentioned for retirement from public 
life, — his desire and purpo.se to devote his days and nights to a great 
work which he contemphited, — a translation of the Old Testament from 
the " Septuagint," and of the New from the Greek. Withdrawn from 
public employment, he was not idle, but was diligently occupied at 
" Harriton" with the.se translations for many years. "This translation 
(of the Septuagint) is executed with great 'fidelity, though— being the 
version of a version — it can hardly afford much assistance to the bib- 
lical student. The translation of the New Testament is much improved 
in the punctuation, and also in the arrangement of the objections and 
rejjlies that occasion such frequent transitions in St. Paul's p]pistles. 
The notes which accompany the work are very brief, but satisfactory 
as far as they go."§ These translations he modestly, but I think in- 
judiciously, published without preface or introduction, and not being 
heralded by any notice of their merits, they brought him neither praise 



* American Quarterly Kcview, vol i., article "American Biography. '■" 

t Hatsel, vol. ii. p. 85, and Jetferson's Manual, j). 158. 

+ But it must be admitted that the entry of abortive viofwris on the journals 
of loi,Mslaturcs would slied iiuicli light upon the history of their proceedings, and 
aid the right construction of their laws. The strongest arguments of the strict 
constructionists of the Constitution of the United States aro^furnished by abortive 
motions of members of the convention that framed it. 

I Home's Introduction to the Critical Study of the Holy Scriptures, vol. ii. 
p. 700. 



500 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 

nor reimbursement of the cost of printing them, though they have, for 
some years, become known to scholars and commmended. Dr. Adam 
Clarke declared "that none could understand adequately the New Tes- 
tament without diligent study of the Septuagint." Charles Thomson, 
therefore, deserves the gratitude of unlearned men for putting it within 
their reach.* 

" Mr. Thomson used joculai'ly to say he was at least half an Indian. 
This he said in allusion to his having been adopted into the Delaware tribe 
after the treaty at Easton, Pennsylvania, in 1156-7. At that time he 
was invited by the Society of Friends then and thereto be present and 
take minutes for them in short-hand. It was the proper business of the 
Reverend Mr. Peters, the secretary of the Governor, to do this, and he 
did so ; but his minutes were so often disputed (in the reading of them) 
by the Indian chief Tadyuscund that Mr. Thomson's unofficial minutes 
were called for, and were, in the opinion of the Indians, so true, that 
they solemnly adopted him, and gave him the name Wegh-wu-law-uo- 
end — the man who tells the truth. "| 

Charles Thomson was affable and dignified, without arrogance or 
hauteur, and accessible ; amiable, and cheerful, and religious, without 
superstition or fanaticism. His education inclined him to the Presby- 
terians, but his affection, Watson thought, to the Quakers ; but he allied 
himself with none of the sects, and, I regret to write, not with the 
church, " loving to say be was attached to no system nor peculiar 
tenets of any sect or party, and therefore better qualified to be a faith- 
ful translator of the Septuagint." In politics he was an old-school 
Republican. So accurate was his observation and sound his judgment 
that his estimates of character were seldom erroneous. | 

" He was tall, becomingly slender, erect to the close of his life as a 
column, never wore spectacles nor lost his teeth, and looked younger 
than he was, though there was no ruddiness in his cheeks to enliven 
his features." He was regular and temperate, and long survived his 
contemporaries; but, while vigorous and healthful in body, his mind 
fell into decay, as is touchingly described by his friend Watson in the 
following account of his visit to " Harriton,"in the spring of 1824, "when 
Charles Thomson was in his ninety-fifth year, and his mind a ruin :" 

" His figure and countenance were very little changed. He could not 
recognize me, though he made several brief inquiries, as if to learn who 
I was. He was very courteous and cheerful, and returned thanks, with 
many smiles, to my kind inquiries in regard to him. He was in full 
dress on his sofa, where he reclined much of his time, slumbering often 
throughout the day. His appetite and general health were good. He 
had lost all idea of books and former things, and passed his time in 
silence, unless when spoken to. A circumstance occurred at the dinner- 
table, he being placed at the head of it, which showed the decadence of 
his mind. While grace was saying by the Reverend Mr. Jones, he 
began, in an elevated and audible voice, to repeat the Lord's Prayer, 
nor did he desist or regard the voice of Mr. Jones, who did not pause 

* Collections of the Pennsylvania Historical Society, vol. i. pp. 89, 90. 
t Ibid., p. 90. 

J Ibid., p. 92; American Quarterly Eevicw, vol. i., article "American Biog- 
rapliy,-' 



OF GEORGE READ. 501 

till the grace was ended. This prayer was all said in the words of his 
own translation, and correctly throughout, thus proving, as T think, that 
the moral faculties are nuich more enduring than the intellectual ones, 
and that, though bereft of reason, his heart still glowed with veneration 
ami love for God. lie made no remark at the table, and did not heed 
the conversation of those around it. He ate with discrimination what 
was offered him, but asked for nothing. For some time it had been 
remarked that his mental faculties were most impaired at the time of 
the equinoxes. In the rooms I observed a silver urn of large dimen- 
sions (a present from the Congress of 1T74), a full-sized bust of John 
Paul Jones, the celebrated naval officer, engraved likenesses of Charles 
James Fox and the Count de Yergennes, and a large print of William 
Tell, with surrounding spectators and scenery. These were generally 
presents, and showed his former, but then lost, predilections and 
opinions."* 

Charles Thomson died the 16th of August, 1824. 
"When a youth," he said, "deer crossed his path, and he saw the 
beavers at work." 

He was twice married. His first wife was a daughter of Charles 
Mather, of Chester County, Pennsylvania. ]3y her he had two children, 
who died in infancy. His second wife was a daughter of Richard 
Harrison, of Merion, near Philadelphia. By this marriage he acquired 
the estate called "Harriton," in the vicinity of Philadelphia, where he 
resided for many years. 

His second wife, firm and undismayed, sustained and encouraged him 
through the trials of the American Revolution, and aided him with her 
pen in his labors while secretary of Congress ; much of whose business 
was so confidential that he could not intrust it to any other deputy, and 
so extensive and multifarious that he could not have done it unless 
aided, or at least without delay and impairment of his health. 

"His translation of the Bible," he said, "however received by the 
world, had been a blessing to him."f 



ID. 
NOTICE OF JOHN VINING. 

The ancestor of the Yining family. Captain Benjamin Yiniug, mi- 
grated from New England to Philadelphia, and was resident there 
about 1722. He removed to Salem, New Jersey; was highly respect- 
able and influential, and a warden of the Episcopal church in that town, 
in one of the aisles of which he was interred, his grave being covered 
by a marble slab having the following inscription: "In Memory of 
Benjamin Vining, Esquire, late Collector of Salem and Marblehead, in 

* Collections of Pennsylvania Historical Society, vol. i. pp. 92-94. 

t American Quarterly Keview, vol. i., article "American Biography." 



502 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 

New England, and son of William Vining, in Portsmouth, New Hamp- 
shire, who died September 5th, 1135, aged 52 years, 1 month, and 22 
days." 

He married Mary, daughter of Hugh Middleton, a judge of Salem 
County, New Jersey, — an early settler there and large landholder. 
Their son John married Rachel Ridgley, and, on her decease, Phebe, 
daughter of Abraham and Esther Wynkoop. He owned a large tract 
of land in Salem County, and removed from thence to the State of Dela- 
ware, having settled at or near Dover in that State : and such was the 
exalted character he sustained that he was elevated to the highest offices 
there. On one of his visits to Salem he was taken sick and died, and 
was buried in an aisle of its Episcopal church (St. John's). Upon the 
stone covering his sepulchre is this epitaph : " In Memory of the Honor- 
able John Vining, Esquire, Speaker* of the Three Lower Counties of 
Delaware, who departed this life November 13th, 1770, aged fort^^-six 
years." He had two sons by his first wife, — namely, Benjamin and 
Nicholas, who died before his father, — and by his second, Abraham 
(who died aged two years), John, and one daughter, Mary.f 

John Vining was born at Dover, Delaware, 23d December, a.d. 1758, 
where he was educated, but what was the education he received I am 
not informed. He studied law with George Read, of New Castle, 
Delaware, was admitted to the bar, practiced in Dover, his residence, 
and soon distinguished himself, as may be inferred from the fact of his 
election to the United States House of Representatives, having not more 
than attained to the age constitutionally required to qualify for member- 
ship of that body, and at that time it was not usual to advance young 
men to high offices. So strongl}^ was the partiality of his fellow-citizens 
manifested for him that he was called " the pet of Delaware."| Poverty, 
because it would have compelled to industry and self-denial, would have 
been to him a boon, but an ample fortune was his by inheritance.! In 
1793 he was elected to the Senate of the United States. How faith- 
inWj and with what distinction he served in Congress the reader can 
judge from the following notices of John Vining, which I have collected 
from a recent historian : 

"In a department of foreign affairs, — a mere continuation of the old 
department of that name, — after an ineffectual effort of Vining, of Dela- 
ware (20th May, 1789), to establish a separate one for home business, 
these two departments were combined. "|| 

* Journal of the General Assembly of the "three lower counties on Dela- 
ware," A.D. 1769, p. 161. It appears by the same journal that John Vining, 
Esquire (I suppose the same person), was prothonotary and clerk of the peace for 
Kent County. 

f I am indebted for the above facts to the family record and to a letter (ad- 
dressed to the Keverend S. R. Wynkoop, Wilminl;:ton, Delaware) by Colonel 
Eobert G. Johnson, a gentleman of very high standing in Salem, New Jersey, 
who died since its date, April 5th, 1850, when he was within a few months of 
entering upon his eightieth year. In a paragraph introductory to his account of 
the Vining family, he mentions that he has a book in which he has recorded the 
history of the most respectable families (among them the Vinings) from their 
settlement in Salem County. My thanks are due to Miss Elizabeth Montgomery, 
writer of an interesting volume ("Reminiscences of Wilmington, Delaware"), 
for the letter of Colonel Johnson and permission to use it. 

J Reminiscences of Wilmington, p. 152. ^ Ibid. 

II Hildreth's History of the United States (2d Series), vol. i. p. 102. 



OF GEORGE READ. 503 

" The debt of Delaware was trifling, but Vining, the able representa- 
tive of that State, supported the assumption [of Revolutionary State 
debts] as a Federal nieiisure."* 

" Tucker (March IGth, 1789) moved to strike out the whole report of 
a house committee, on a mcnujrial of a Peiins^ivania society, ])raying 
the abolition of slavery, substituting a resolution to refuse considering 
it as unconstitutional. Jackson seconded the motion, in a si)eeeh as 
warm as Tucker's, to which Yining replied. "f 

" The arguments in favor of assumption were recapitulated by Law- 
rence, Goodhue, and others, and by Yining."! 

"Yining (January 28th, 1189) spoke in favor of chartering a national 
bank."§ 

"Among the new members [of the Senate], Livermore, of New Hamp- 
shire, Jackson, of Georgia, and Yining, of Delaware, had already dis- 
tinguished themselves as former members of the House. "|| 

Nature was liberal to him, for, besides a good face and person, he 
was one of the wittiest men of his day, his powers of conversation 
great, and these endowments set otf by very fascinating manners. As 
a specimen of his wit I recall the following anecdote, which I heard 
from my father, and which may be found in the " Reminiscences of \Yil- 
mington," p. 152 He married Miss Seaton, daughter of James Seaton, 
Collector of New York.^ Her father, when he was addressing her, 
reasonably anxious for some knowledge of his circumstances, asked : 
"Mr. Yining, what are your prospects?" Spreading his arms abroad, 
be promptly answered, "Prospects, sir; my prospects are unbounded." 
" Mr. Yining," writes Robert G. Johnson, " was considered a very acute 
advocate at the bar, a very able debater in Congress, and a highly 
creditable representative of his native State." Whether nature was as 
liberal in endowing him with the solid as with the brilliant intellectual 
faculties, I doubt. He attained no great eminence as a lawyer,** which 
may have resulted from his indolence, but when he addressed juries was 
fluent, graceful, acute, and even eloquent, and always listened to with 
attention and pleasure. He wanted that virtue, without which all other 
endowments, however prodigally bestowed, are vain — prudence. He 
was indolent, fond of pleasure, and generous, and, having broken his 
constitution and wasted his estate, died prematurely, ff One of my uncles 
told me that when quite a boy he was among the spectators at an 
assembly in New Castle graced by the presence of the brilliant officers 
of Lauzun's legion, then lying at Wilmington. Yining suddenly entered 
the room where it was held, and, thrusting into my uncle's hand a bag of 



* Hildreth's History of the United States (2d Series), vol. i. p. 172. 

t Ibid., p. 184. t Ibid., p. 207. § Ibid, p. 448. || Ibid., p. 202. 

\ " Who," saj'S Robert G. Johnson, " came to her death by taking medicine by 
mistake." "And was," writes Miss Montgomery, " a child of sorrow consigned to 
an early grave." 

** So said Judge Thomas Clayton, but when he knew Vining he was in his 
decadence. 

tf Kcminiscences of Wilmington, pp. 152, 153. 

In a docket of my father, George Head, Esquire, of his suits in the Supremo 
Court of Delaware, beginning October term, 1793, is the entry (p. 46) of a suit 
for libel, entitled "John Vining, Esquire, rs. Peter Brynberg and Samuel An- 
drews," which, after setting forth the proceediugs in the case, closes with these 
words: "Abated by plaintiff's death, in the winter of 1802, at Dover." 



504 LIFE AND GOBRESPONDENGE 

gold, the proceeds of the sale of a farm, Avith which he had just returned 
from Jersey, selected a partner and led her to the dance, in which he par- 
ticipated for hours after, thoughtless of his gold, in the charge of a mere 
lad, iu a crowd of very miscellaneous character. For the following 
story I give my authority, the late Caesar A. Rodney : " Mr. Vining 
once invited a large company to dinner. His wife, to whom he had 
given no notice of this invitation, when aware of the arrival of the 
guests, called him out, in much disquietude, to say there was nothing 
to set before them. 'Nothing!' exclaimed he. 'Nothing,' replied 
she, sarcastically, 'nothing — but the black bull.^ 'Well,' answered 
Yining, 'kill the bull.'" "His sister, Mary Vining," writes R. G. 
Johnson, " was considered the most accomplished and beautiful of all 
women in her day — was courted by many gentlemen, but rejected 
them all, preferring a single life ;" and she has been thus described to 
me by my father and others : her conversational powers, they said, were 
even superior to those of her brother. During the latter period of our 
Revolution and that immediately succeeding it she reigned a belle in 
the fashionable circles of New York and Philadelphia. Among her 
adorers was General Wayne, to whom his soldiers, from his headlong 
courage, gave the sobriquet of " Mad Anthony." C A. Rodney told 
me he was one evening in company with him and Miss Yining, when 
mention being made of a man who had been guilty of some act of 
great moral obliquity, Wayne started from his chair, exclaiming, with 
an oath, " Madam, had I been present I would have suicided /im.'" 
She found herself upon the decease of her brother, with narrow pecuniary 
resources, in charge of his children, — four boys, — to the care and train- 
ing of whom she devoted herself, retiring to a small house in Wilming- 
ton. They well repaid her sacrifices for them, giving promise of useful- 
ness, and one of them of distinction ; but they were all prematurely cut 
down by consumption.* Miss Yining died on Good Frida}^, 1821, and 
was buried in the cemetery of Trinity Church on Easter Sunday, — 
having purposed to receive the sacrament of the Lord's Supper from the 
rector of this church on that day. No stone marks her grave. f She 
was born August 28th, 1756.^ 

In the course of conversation. May 24th, 1859, with James Rogers, 
Esquire, § an eminent member of the Delaware bar, and Attorne3-General 
of this State for twenty years, upon my asking "whether he knew John 
Yining or not," he replied that "he had well known him, and related 
the following anecdotes of him. 



* The eldest of these youths was admitted to the bar in New York, and the 
second in age was in the United States Navy. — Reminiscences of Wilmington, 
pp. 154, 155. 

f One of her peculiarities was to partially conceal alwaj^s her beautiful face by 
a veil or fan, and in the latter part of her life by a cap, and another never to be 
seen abroad unless riding. Among her guests were the Duke de Liancourt and 
Duke of Orleans, afterwards King Louis Philippe. General Miranda, passing 
through Wilmington in the mail at night, left his card for her in the post-office. 
Not a gray hair was mingled when she died with her soft, glossy, brown tresses, 
nor a wrinkle marred the beauty of her fine forehead. — Reminiscences of Wil- 
mington, pp. 150, 151, 155, 156. 

J Family record. 

\ Mr. llogers died 15th September, 1868, in the eighty-ninth j-ear of his age. 



OF GEORGE READ. 505 

Mr. Rogers (my informant) was a student of law, for three years, in 
Dover, Delaware, and for fifteen months of this period in the office of 
Nicholas Ridgley, then Attorney-General, and afterwards for many 
years Chancellor of this State, leaving his office when he was appointed 
Chancellor, and during this period, in 1799, 1800, and 1801, was very 
intimate with John Vining. 

Yining was ahout or rather below middle size, very handsome, of most 
engaging and winning manners, elocpient, and very popular as an advo- 
cate, "with a voice which was perfect music;" but he was not a well-read 
lawyer, in corroboration of which assertion, Mr. Rogers said, "I and 
m}' fellow-student, H. M. Ridgley were employed by Mr. Vining to 
draw his declarations, which we did with willingness, for our improve- 
ment in this part of the practice of the law. On one occasion he gave 
us a list of cases in which we were to draw his uars., and among them 
was this case. A had shot or struck with some weapon the animal of 
B, and it had died by reason of the wounding, and Yining had brought 
an action on the case for the damage sustained by B. Young students 
as we were, we soon perceived that tret^jmss, not case, should have 
been brought, and so intimated to Yining; but he would not admit that 
he had mistaken the form of action, arguing that A had fired the gun 
or given the blow, and the injury was consequential thereto. His con- 
versation was a succession of flashes of wit, so bright was his imagina- 
tion." Mr. R. was invited to a supper Yining gave, he thinks, while 
the Legislature was in session. Card-tables were laid in the front, and 
the supper in the back, parlor of Yining's house in Dover. About 11 
o'clock P.M. his kitchen-chimney took fire, and his house was at once 
filled with his neighbors, and there was danger of his entertainment 
being broken up. But Yining prevented this catastrophe by a specimen 
of his wonderful address, for, with perfect self-possession, and in the 
blandest manner, he thanked the crowd, of all classes and colors, for 
their kindness, which, he rejoiced, was unnecessary, as his guests were 
numerous enough to render all the aid required, — all the while ad- 
vancing upon them, with graceful bows, they insensibly retreating, till 
they were in the street. While Mr. R. was a student of law, occurred 
a case of homicide, in Sussex County, Delaware, which excited deep 
interest. "A man named Wild shot another named Wilson, in a Ma- 
sonic lodge. It is remarkable that the brother of the slain man. James 
P. Wilson, subsequently an eminent divine in the Presbyterian Church, 
assisted in the prosecution, as did O. Horsey, who made his debut, and 
in the outset of his speech urged against the prisoner, as an aggravating 
circumstance, the place where the crime was committed, which indicated 
a breach of solemn Masonic obligations. As this was uttered. Asso- 
ciate Judge John Clayton, striking violently the desk before him, ex- 
claimed, ' How do you know this, or what do you know of Masonic 
obligations ?' This rough interruption so embarrassed II. that he could 
not go on." Yining's speech was very eloquent, and was listened to 
with delight. His wife, tall and rather spare, was very accomplished 
and i)leasing, but not beautiful. She was skilled in music, and her 
voice so powerful that Mr. R. often heard her singing, at her piano, on 
summer evenings, while sitting at his lodgings, a considerable distance 
from her house. Upon her death, and the sale of the reihnant of his 

33 



506 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 

property for his debts, the decadence of Yining became complete, for 
he submitted to live at Furby's hotel, where Mr. R. boarded, with the 
run of its table and bar, without cost. His intemperance was so con- 
firmed that he was always under the influence, more or less, of liquor. 
His chamber adjoined that of Mr. R., to which he resorted often, de- 
lighting- him with his anecdotes and witty conversation. Often he 
would come in, late at night, in his shirt (taking, he said, his cold bath), 
and sit reciting, and sometimes declaiming, poetry, especially passages 
from Shakspeare, as long as Mr. R. would listen. " He was athletic 
and brave," said Mr. R., "even in his decline;" in proof of which 
assertion, he added, "there was, while I lived in Dover, a meeting, the 
occasion of which I cannot recall, at which Vining was present, and 
one Millis, a noted bully, six feet high, square-built, and strong. A po- 
litical quarrel was raised, and he threatened to beat Vining, and struck 
at him, while Vining's friends (among them Judge Clayton) held him 
back. Vining remonstrated, exclaiming, ' Why do you hold me ? I can 
whip him in two or three minutes !' They released him, and in two or 
three minutes he did whip him. Vining, I suppose, owed his victory 
to his self-possession, and his assailing his enemy so quickly that he 
was conquered before he could put forth his greatly superior strength." 
He died in the winter of 1802, at Dover." 

Miss Vining bequeathed the house in Wilmington, Delaware, in 
which she resided during the closing period of her life, with her furni- 
ture, to her housekeeper, Mrs. Motherall, who received with it two 
family Bibles, one of which, after her decease, came into the possession 
of her nephew, Mr. William Motherall, who resides now (November, 
1858) near Newark, Delaware. Mr. Motherall has, with great kind- 
ness, at my request upon hearing that he possessed one of these Bibles, 
brought it to me and permitted me to examine the family records therein, 
and make extracts from them. It is a King James's Bible, printed a.d. 
1707. These records are made with much care ; they show the solici- 
tude felt for the early baptism of infants and provision of sponsors, 
which, with the accouchements and witnesses thereto, are noted with 
much particularity,* as if to guard against the palming of suppositi- 
tious heirs upon 13arriton Fields, the Vining estate, near Salem, New 
Jersey. Funeral sermons are recorded as having been preached even at 
children's burials. I add a genealogical table, as far as necessary, 
from these records of the Vining family, — 

William Vining. 

Benjamin Vining — Mary Middleton. 



* Of this particularity the followinc; entry is a specimen: 

"John Vining, third son of John Vining, and the second child by Phebe, his 
wife, was born at Dover town, in Kent County, Delaware, at their house, on the 
23d day of December, 1758, at forty-five minutes after six of the clock, in the 
afternoon. Present, Elizabeth Thomas, midwife; Mary Ridglej', grandmother; 
said John, and Elizabeth Jackson, widow, and Mary Vining. his aunt. And 
was christened by the Eeverend Hugh Neil, Missionary at Oxford, in Penn- 
sylvania, on the 14th day of May, 1759, and Mrs. Marj' Eidgley and Mrs. 
Elizabeth Chew, wife of Benjamin Chew, Esqr., and Mr. Ca3sar Rodney, stood 
godmothers and godfather." — Famiiy Record. 



OF GEORGE READ. 507 

John Yining- — Rachel Ridgley, first wife ; 

Phobe WA^nkoop, second wife. 
John Yining — Mary Seaton. 

Issue: four sons, wlio died shortly before or after attaining man's 
estate. 



NOTICE OP COMMODORE BARNEY. 

Joshua Barney was born in Maryland, in 1759. He went early to 
sea, in the mercantile service, and after several voyages, and when not 
more than sixteen years of age, the captain and mate of the ship in 
which he was employed being disabled by illness, he took charge of 
and commanded her for eight months, encountering great difficulties 
and perils, through which he brought her safely to Baltimore, manifest- 
ing nautical skill, courage, and decision extraordinary in one so young. 
He then entered the service of the United States, and, with the rank of 
lieutenant, was in several actions, and the vessels in which he served 
very successful in making prizes, several of which he, as prize-master, 
brought safely to the United States. He was three times captured by the 
enemy, — twice exchanged and once escaped. In 1782 he received from 
the State of Pennsylvania the command of the ship Hyder-Ally, often 
guns, and while waiting in the Delaware Bay a favorable wind for 
putting to sea, was attacked by the Briti.sh ship General Monk, with 
two consorts in sight, she carrying twenty guns. This ship, so superior 
in force, he bravel>' engaged, and, gaining some advantage by a very- 
adroit stratagem, captured her in twenty-six minutes, — the British having 
lost thirty killed and rifty-tliree wounded, besides fifteen out of sixteen 
officers, his own loss having been but four killed and fifteen wounded. 
The command of the captured ship, bought by the United States, was 
given to Barney, the State of Pennsylvania having voted him a sword for 
his skill and courage in taking her. He sailed in the " Monk" with de- 
spatches for Franklin, and was received with distinction at the Court of 
Yersailles, and returned with "barrels of gold and chests of silver," a 
loan from France, and the welcome news that the preliminary treaty 
between p]ngland and the United Stales was signed. When the Con- 
stitution of the United States went into operation, a navy was to be 
created; but it was not until 1794 that even the first step towards it 
was taken, not without strong opposition, and it was even provided that 
the act then passed for building six frigates should be suspended if 
peace could be purchased with Algiers. Employment not being obtain- 
able at home, Barney, active and ambitious, sought and received the 
commission of captain in the French service and held the command of 
one of their frigates for five years, when he resigned, because, I sup- 
pose, of the quasi war between her and the United States. The di-spute 
between the United States and France placed him, while he held his 
commission in the French service, in a difficult and delicate position. 



508 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 

While loyal to the flag under which he sailed, he was bound to main- 
tain his allegiance to his country, and the unfriendly feelings between 
the governments of France and the United States made this not an easy 
matter. He was charged with having treated Americans brought into 
ports of the French West India Islands, by privateers, with indiffer- 
ence, contempt, and neglect; to have hoisted, in scorn of his country, 
the American ensign, union down; to have boasted that he had orders 
in his pocket for the capture of American vessels, and that if Jefferson 
should not be elected President, France would declare war against the 
United States in three months; and yet when he arrived at Baltimore 
with the two French frigates under his command, he was received with 
the highest honors, feasted, addressed, and followed by throngs. In 
1812, when war was declared by the United States against Great 
Britain, he offered his services to the President, and in 1813 received 
the command of the flotilla in the Chesapeake. In 1814 he was active 
in annoying the enemy in that bay, but was compelled by a superior 
force to abandon and burn his vessels. Retreating with his crews 
before the advancing army of General Ross, he made a gallant stand 
near Bladensburg, which he maintained until almost surrounded, inflict- 
ing, by the quick and well-aimed fire of his few pieces of artillery, a 
heavy loss upon the British. He was wounded, made prisoner, and 
released on parole. He received a ball in his thigh, which the utmost 
skill of the most eminent surgeons failed to find and extract. After the 
peace of 1815 he retired to his farm; but, as might have been expected 
in a man so active and ambitious, soon tired of agricultural pursuits 
and removed to Baltimore. He then went on a mission to Europe, and 
on his return found himself crippled by his wound. His strength being 
partially restored, impatient of inaction, he determined to remove to 
Kentucky, and on his journey thither died at Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, 
December l.st, 1818, aged sixty years. The corporation of Washington 
voted him a sword for his services in defence of that city, and the 
Legislature of Georgia their thanks. Commodore Barney was uncom- 
monly handsome, and his courage, enterprise, judgment, seamanship, 
and knowledge of naval tactics entitled him to be ranked with the 
most distinguished naval officers of the United States.* 



* Encyclop£edia Americana, vol. i., article " Barney ;" Goldsborough's United 
States Naval Chronicle, pp. oO, 31 ; Hildreth's History of the United States, vol. 
i. pp. 479, 480, 703, 704. 



OF GEORGE READ. 509 



IF. 
CLASSIFICATION OF UNITED STATES SENATORS, 1789. 

Monday, May 11th, 1789, Messrs. Ellsworth, Carroll, and Few were 
appointed a committee to report a mode of executinj? the second para- 
graph of the third section of the first article of the Constitution. Ma}^ 
14th, 1789, the committef; appointed to report a mode of carrying- into 
effect the provision iu the second clause of the third section of the first 
article of the Constitution reported: 

Whereujion, Resolced, That the Senators be divided into three 
classes : 

The first to consist of Messrs. Langdon, Johnson, Morris, Henry, 
Izard, and Gunn ; 

The second, of Messrs. Wingate, Strong, Patterson, Bassett, Lee, 
Butler, and Few ; 

And the third, of Messrs. Dalton, Ellsworth, Elmer, Maclay, Read, 
Carroll, and Grayson. 

That three papers of equal size, numbered one, two, and three, be 
by the Secretary rolled up and put in a box and drawn by Messrs. 
Langdon, Wingate, and Dalton in behalf of the respective clas.ses in 
which each of them is placed, and that the classes shall vacate their 
seats in the Senate according to the order of numbers drawn for them, 
beginning with number one ; 

And that when Senators shall take their seats from States that have 
not yet appointed Senators, they shall be placed by lot in the foregoing 
classes, but in such a manner as shall keep the classes as nearlv equal 
as may be in numbers. 

Friday, May 15th, 1789, the Senate proceeded to determine the 
classes, according to the resolve of yesterday, on the mode of carrying 
into effect the provision of the second clause of the third section of the 
first article of the Constitution, and, the numbers being drawn, the 
classes were determined as follows: 

Lot No. 1, drawn by Mr. Dalton, contained Messrs. Dalton, Ells- 
worth, Elmer, Maclay, Read, Carroll, and Grayson, whose seats shall 
accordingly be vacated in the Senate at the expiration of the second 
year. 

Lot No. 2, drawn by Mr. Wingate, contained Messrs. Wingate, 
Strong, Patterson, Bassett, Lee, Butler, and Few, whose seats shall 
accordingly be vacated in the Senate at the expiration of the fourth 
year. 

Lot No. 3, drawn by Mr. Langdon, contained Messrs. Eangdon, 
Johnson, Morris, Henry, Izard, and Gunn, whose seats shall accord- 
ingly be vacated in the Senate at the expiration of the sixth year. 



510 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 



C3-. 
NOTICE OF GUNNING BEDFORD. 

Gunning Bedford was born in the city of Philadelphia in the year 
1147. He was first cousin of Governor Bedford, of Delaware, and they 
were of English descent. Gunning Bedford graduated at Nassau 
Hall, New Jersey, in 1771. James Madison, and Hugh M. Bracken- 
ridge were his classmates.* Mr. Bedford, while a student at Prince- 
ton, married Miss Jane Ballaroux Parker, of Ncav York, — a lady five 
years older than himself, of great intelligence, and distinguished by 
vivacity and grace, which she probably derived from her mother, a 
native of France. He was one of the best scholars, and the first speaker 
of his class, — which appears from the fact that he received a high 
honor, — being selected to deliver the valedictory oration at his com- 
mencement : his wife travelled with her baby to Princeton, and heard 
him deliver it. He studied law with Joseph Reed, an eminent lawyer 
of Philadelphia, and, having been admitted to the bar, removed to 
Dover, Delaware, where he practised successfully until the unhealthi- 
ness of that town compelled him to remove with his family to Wil- 
mington in that State. He was a handsome man, and a very fluent 
and agreeable speaker, and the high place he gained in the esteem and 
confidence of his fellow-citizens was shown by the offices of trust 
and importance he filled. He was a member of the Legislature of 
Delaware, of Congress, and of the convention which formed the Con- 
stitution of the United States, in the debates of which he partici- 
pated. In the deeply interesting and exciting discussion upon the 
question " whether or not the States should be equally represented in 
the Federal Legislature," he expressed himself with warmth, f so near 
to intemperance to some it seemed, as subjected him to animadversion ; 
but when it is considered that this warmth was prompted by generous 
zeal for his State, on a question of vital importance to her, we may 
justly conclude that it did not deserve severe censure. Soon after, Mr. 
Bedford was appointed Attorney-General of Delaware, and filled this 
office with fidelity and distinction. Upon the organization of the gov- 
ernment of the United States he was commissioned the first ju^ge of 
the United States District Court of Delaware. This high office he 
filled, honorably for himself and satisfactorily to the public, until he 
was disabled by disease, which terminated his life in 1812, in the sixty- 
fifth year of his age. | 

* Catalogus Collegii Neo Ctesariensis, p. 24. 

f Pitkin's Civil and Political History of the United States, vol. ii. pp. 
239-241. 

% "Judge Bedford and his lady were remarkably handsome, and of noble 
stature. Mrs. Bedford received a superior education. She spoke French fluently, 
and when Wilmington was filled with Prench emigrants she was their friend 
and patron. Her entertainments excelled in tasteful arrangement, — so said for- 
eigners. Her fatlier was an early friend and companion of Dr. Franklin, who 
encouraged him in giving her a classical education, and she enjoyed his friend- 
ship, and was one of his correspondents. Mrs. Bedford, when her father edited a 
paper in New York, aided him by writing and translating." — Reminiscences of 
Wilmington, p. 288. 



OF GEORGE BEAD. 511 

I am indebted to a lady, daughter of Judge Bedford, and the only- 
survivor of his children, for most of the fjicts of the foregoing notice, 
which she very kindly communicated to me March Ifith, 1858. 

A monument is now (19tli October, 1858) ready to be placed in the 
cemetery of the First Presbyterian Church, Wilmington, Delaware, 
over Judge Bedford's grave (l)y the pious regard to his memory of his 
only surviving child. Miss Henrietta I. Bedford), which he requested 
should be made as near as possible to the door of the small church still 
standing on the upper corner of the burying-ground, and fronting on 
the main street of that city. It is an oval marble column, about eight 
feet high, standing on a base of the height of three feet; it has a i)iece 
of drapery sculptured, with a tassel at each end, as if thrown over it, 
and the Bedford coat-of-arms, — three lions' claws and the Ballaroux, 
two leopards, — with the following inscription : 

In hope 
of a joyful resurrection, 
through faith in Jesus Christ, 
here rests the mortal part 

of 
GUNNING BEDFORD. 

Born in Philadelphia, A.D. 1747, 

Graduated at Nassau Hall, New Jersey, A.D. 1771, 

with great distinction. 

Having studied law in Philadelphia, 

he practised in Delaware 

with success ; 

distinguished by his eloquence as an advocate ; 

Attorney-General, member of the Legislature of Delaware 

\and of Congress'], 

and one of the delegates to the Convention that 

framed the Constitution of the United States [by ivhose 

efforts, loith those of other delegates, two Senators were obtained 

for the State of Delaicare"]. 

.Ye received from Washington the commission of frst Judge of the 

District Court of the United States for the District of Delaware, 

which he held till his death in 1812. 

He so behaved in these high offices as to deserve and receive 

the ap)probation of his fellow-citizens. 

His form ivas goodly, his temper amiable, 

his manners winning, and his discharge 

of private duties exemplary. 

Reader, may his example stimulate 

you to improve the talents — be they five, or 

two, or one — with which God has entrusted you.* 

. , — ■ ■ 

* This epitaph was written by the author at the, request of Miss Bedford. 



512 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 



HI. 

NOTICES OF RICHARD PETERS AND EDWARD 
TILGHMAN. 

Richard Peters was born near Philadelphia, August 22cl, l'r44. He 
was a graduate of Philadelphia College, and studied and practised law, 
and was early successful, and especially because of his knowledge of the 
land-laws of Pennsylvania, and the German language. In the Revolu- 
tionary war he was captain, for a short time, of a volunteer corps, and 
then was appointed to the War Office, where he served till ITSl, when he 
resigned, and was thanked by Congress for his services. He shared, with 
the great financier, Robert Morris, in the efforts and sacrifices which so 
often saved the American cause from ruin, during the contest Avith 
Great Britain. Mr. Peters was a member of the Continental Congress, 
and, when the Constitution of the United States went into operation, 
having refused the office of Comptroller of the United States Treasury, 
accepted the United States District Judgeship for Pennsylvania, which 
he held for thirty-six years. Equal to his duties, and diligent in dis- 
charging them, he deserved to be held, as he was, a faithful and useful 
judge. He was an eminent agriculturist, president of the society insti- 
tuted in Pennsylvania to promote agriculture, and wrote valuable essays 
on this science, the publication of which, as he was an . experimental 
farmer, was extensively useful. He was the wittiest man of his day, 
and adorned his profession of Christianity in all the relations of life.* 

Edward Tilghman, an eminent member of the Philadelphia bar, was 
born at Wye, on the Eastern Shore of Maryland, llth December, 1750. 
His paternal ancestor, a native of Kent, England, settled in Maryland 
in 1662, and his family was one of the oldest and most respectable in 
that State. He was educated in Philadelphia, and studied law, for a 
short time, there, and then, for several years, in the Middle Temple, 
London, assiduously attending the courts, and taking full notes (still 
extant) of the arguments of the great lawyers of that period, and the 
decisions of the judges, especially Lord Mansfield. His method of study 
cannot be too strongly recommended. He studied the whole system of 
law, beginning with estates and tenures, and pursued the cognate 
branches and collateral subjects, in due order, by which means he ac- 
quired a knowledge of the principles which rule in all departments of 
legal science. The advantage of this mode of study is apparent when 
contrasted with the common one of getting an outline of the law by 
reading commentaries, and filling it up by desultory perusal of treatises 
and reports. The last can only make superficial lawyers ; the other 
has made such as are the glor}- of their profession. Mr. Tilghman 
surpassed his contemporaries in knowledge of contingent remainders 
and executory devises, which have been called "the higher mathe- 
matics of the law," and "could untie," said an eminent judge, "the 

* Encyclopaedia Americana, vol. x. pp. 56, 57. 



OF GEORGE READ. 513 

most complicated knots of a contingent remainder, or executory devise, 
as easily as he could liis g-arters. " There can be no better evidence 
than this that his intellect was clear, acute, discriminating, and conii)re- 
hensive. He was, too, an able advocate, fluent, graceful, and per- 
spicuous, and well understood how to numage a case. Qualified, as he 
was, beyond his comi)eers, for the judicial station, such was his 
modesty and repugnance to office that he refused the Chief Justiceship 
of Pennsylvania, ollered him by Governor McKean. lie has left 
nothing behind him but his legal opinions, which were numerous, and 
which, if collected, would establish the rank claimed for him among 
the most distinguished of his profession, and be a valuable legacy to 
the bar. Mr. Tilghman was benevolent, generous, and honorable, de- 
lighting his friends l)y the amenity of his temper, and his wit, which 
had no causticity, and by his courteous manners. He died November 
1st, 1815. The article in volume xiv. pp. 581-583 of the Encyclopaedia 
Americana, of which the foregoing notice is a summary, was written 
by one who was an intimate friend of Mr. Tilghman, and shows his 
ability to form a correct estimate of him. 



514 



LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 



CHAPTER VII. 

Mr. Kead at Dover — Letter of John Dickinson — Commencement of the second 
session of First Congress — Letter of Richard Bassett ; his opinion as to the 
assumption of State debts — Mr. Head attends United States Senate, 8th March, 
1790 — Success of the new government — President's message; recommends en- 
couragement of agriculture, commerce, and manufactures, and provision for 
maintaining public credit — Hamilton's report, recommending payment of 
United States debt and assumption of State debts by funding them — Mr. 
Madison's motion to discriminate between original creditors and present holders 
— Eesolutions introduced into United States House of Representatives in con- 
formity to Hamilton's report, and debates thereon ; arguments for and against 
assumption ; resolution for assumption adopted by the House, then reconsidered 
and rejected — Bill making provision for United States debt passed the Hous^ — 
The question where should be the permanent seat of the United States govern- 
ment; bill passed in United States Senate fixing it temporarilj' in Philadel- 
phia and permanently on the Potomac, and bill for funding United States 
debt, with amendment assuming in part the State debts ; Mr. Read's vote for 
both; beneficial result of these measures — Congress adjourns — Letters of Colonel 
Read and Mrs. Thompson as to claim of General Thompson's heirs for a manor 
from the Penns, for his services as their surveyor — Third session of Congress 
commences; Mr. Reed attends, 8th December, 1790, and through this session 
— Acts imposing further duties on foreign spirits and a duty on domestic; act 
chartering United States Bank ; both bills pass, Mr. Read voting for them ; 
arguments for and against these measures — Mr. Monroe's motion for doors of 
United States Senate to be open when in legislative session rejected, renewed, 
and proposition finally succeeds; reasons for it — Congress adjourns — Letter of 
Judge Anderson ; notice of him — First session of Second Congress commences; 
Mr. Read present at its opening and till its close — Most important bills passed, 
one for apportionment of representatives, the other for the increase of the 
army; final shape and passage of the first-named bill, and Mr. Read's vote for 
it — State of parties — St. Clair's defeat — Bill for increase of army debated in 
both Houses, and argument for and against it; disagreement of Senate and 
House on this bill ; committee of conference ; their report adopted and bill 
passed ; Mr. Read's vote for it — Congress adjourns — Mr. Read's letter on behalf 
of his second son, with a notice of him — Mr. Read's letter to Mrs. House, and 
ill health — Second session of Second Congress commences; Mr. Read present; 
one of a committee upon expediency of a law respecting fugitives from justice, 
who report a bill ; history of its progress and passage — Principal measures of 
this session — Mr. Read's opinion, in his letter to Colonel Bedford, of John 
Adams's suitability for Vice-President; he receives the electoral vote of 
Delaware — Giles's resolutions censuring the Secretary of the Treasury — Con- 
gress adjourns — Mr. Read appointed Chief Justice of Delaware, and letters 
relating to this appointment — Resigns his seat in United States Senate — Letter 
of John Dickinson — St. Domingo, history and description of; negro insurrec- 
tion there; fugitives from St. Domingo in New Castle ; letter of one of them 
to General Washington in their case, and Mr. Read's reply; Mr. Jefferson's 
opinion on the question of the right of Congress to grant these fugitives re- 
lief, and comment thereon — Letters of Oliver Ellsworth and Ricliard Bassett — 
Opinion of Mr. Read as to the right of the Governor of Delaware to fill the 
vacancy in the United States Senate caused by his resignation, the Legislature 
of Delaware meeting thereafter and adjourning without filling it — Governor 
Clayton appoints Kensey Johns to succeed Mr. Read ; Senate refuses him his 
seat; comments on this case — Mr. Read's petition to the Delaware Legislature 
for increase of his salary as Chief Justice — Mr, Read's character as a judge, 



OF GEORGE READ. 515 

and testimonies in rofjard to it — His decetise, and chnrnctor ns a man — Place 
of interment, and epitaph — ^[r. Diclvinson's gift to Mrs. Koad and her children 
— Notice of John Dickinson — Appendix A, notice of Kensey Johns — Apjiendix 
B, portraits of George liead ; Appendix C, Mr. liead's mansion, means, aud 
style of living. 

In the beginning of the year 1790 Mr. Read was in 
Dover, and while there received the following letter from 
John Dickinson, who, importuned for payment of the 
balance still due on the bond he gave in 1782 for one 
thousand pounds, borrowed for the use of the State of Dela- 
ware, requested him again to exert his influence for the 
payment of this balance. 

"My DEAR Friend, — Some time ago I requested the 
assistance of thy influence with the treasurer to relieve me 
from the balance due on my bond to Robert Morris for the 
use of the State, now amounting to about three hundred 
and twenty-five pounds. He has made the most positive 
promises that the first money of the public at his com- 
mand shall be applied to this purpose. But still the debt 
remains and Tilghman distresses me beyond description. I 
need say no more to my friend, except it be to repeat my 
request, in the most earnest manner, to employ thy just 
influence on this occasion in behalf of thy truly affectionate 
friend, 

"John Dickinson.* 

" Wilmington,' January 9th, 1790. 

"George Read, Esquire, now at Dover." 

The second session of the First Congress commenced in 
New York, January 4th, 1790. Mr. Read was not present 
then, nor for some time thereafter, but from his fiiithful 
discharge of his duties, public and private, he is entitled to 
the presumption that this absence was unavoidable. His 
colleague. Richard Bassett, urged his attendance in the 
letter that follows, which is interesting as showing the state 
of parties and of a very important and exciting question at 
its date. Mr. Bassett's opinion upon the subject of the 
assumption of the State debts by the United States, ex- 
pressed in this letter, remained unchanged, for he voted 

* Ante, Chapter VI. p. 489. 



516 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 

against it, while Mr. Read, taking, it seems to me, a more 
enlarged and statesman-like view, voted for it : 

"New York, March 1st, 1790. 

"Dear Sir, — Your very long absence from this place 
occasions much inquiry, and is the subject of some animad- 
version. 1 have anxiously expected to see you every day 
for these two weeks. I hope the delay is not occasioned by 
bad health. One great and important question on the 
funding business has been determined in the House of Rep- 
resentatives, in a committee of the whole, — to wit, that 
there should be no discrimination between original creditors 
and present holders. This determination took place against 
the sentiments of our friend Madison, who no doubt must 
be a little mortified thereat, as he labored the point in a 
most masterly manner, and appeared to have it much at 
heart, and I must own, in my poor opinion, had reason, 
justice, and every sentiment on his side, which ought to 
have acted as a stimulus to have induced a different de- 
cision. Whether he will come forward with his proposition 
for discrimination again before the House [I] cannot say, 
but should suppose he would not, as the majority appeared 
large against him. The present great question* before them 
is whether the State debts shall be assumed or not. Great 
diversity of opinion prevails on this subject, and I fear an 
improper determination will take place. The Eastern 
people seem to be determined, unless they can carry the 
assumption of the State debts, that they will fund none, 
and it appears to me that as long as we continue to sit at 
this place we most assuredly shall have whatever they con- 
tend for imposed upon us, be it right or wrong. From what 
I can learn and discover respecting the State claims to the 
East, if their now favorite measure is adopted, poor little 
Delaware will have saddled upon her between two and three 
hundred thousand dollars more than her former supposed 
quota. This will never do ; but how to help it is the ques- 
tion. Do come forward and lend us your aid. I feel my 
own weakness upon subjects of this kind in a very eminent 
degree, and therefore want your aid. Eastern politics and 
Eastern men will prevail in our government; they evidently 
begin to feel their own weight and importance, and show it 
in every step. North Carolina has come forward with a 



OF GEORGE READ. 517 

curious cession of western territory, and annexed thereto 
are a parcel of the most curious and extraordinary con- 
ditions I ever beheld. I inclose them for your perusal. 
This cession I opposed with all my might in Senate, but to 
little purpose, [and] have been making all the head I could 
against it with the members of the other branch, but with 
what success time must determine. I have too much reason 
to fear the same interest will preponderate there that did 
with us. Rhode Island, it is said, will not come in, [and] 
that there is a majority of twelve against it. The Eastern 
men here are exerting all possible inlluence to bring [her] 
in, from this motive principally alone, I fear, to give [tliem] 
a clearer decided majority. I inclose a paper or two, to 
which I refer you for the news of the day. For God's sake, 
come along; I cannot stay here much longer without you. 
My respects to Mrs. Read and family. 

" I am, sir, with great respect, your friend and humble 
servant, 

" Richard Bassett.* 

" George Read, Esquire." 

Mr. Read must have left his home for New York imme- 
diately after the receipt of the foregoing letter of his col- 
league, for it appears by the journal of the Senate (vol. i. 
p. 118) that he attended on the 8th day of March, and, as 
appears further by that journal, through the remaining part 
of the session. 

Debt ! How suggestive is this word at this day of im- 
prudence, folly, crime, ruin, misery! But if men could 
never incur debt, enterprise must fold her wings, agricul- 
ture, commerce, and manufactures languish, and national 
defence sometimes be impossible. The debt of our Revo- 
lution was the price of liberty and independence. It was 
the anticipation of future resources when present means of 
maintaining the war with Great Britain were exhausted. 

* The first session of the Second Congress began 24th October, 1791, 
and ended May 8th, 1792; and the second session of the Second Con- 
gress began 5th November, 1792, and terminated 2d March, 1793. Mr. 
Read was present at the commencement and during the whole of these 
sessions. He resigned his senatorship Sept., 1793. — Journal of United 
Stales Senate, vol. i. pp. 118, 21G, 323, 444, 450, 501. 



518 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 

Peace was conquered and our independence was acknowl- 
edged, but this debt was unpaid because its payment was 
impossible. The country, where it had been the theatre 
of war, was wasted, its resources everywhere were ex- 
hausted, industry and enterprise were paralyzed, confidence 
of men in each other was almost destroyed, and the blight 
of a currency, so depreciated as to be worthless, was upon 
the people. The power to fill the empty national treasury 
was not possessed by the Continental Congress, for its means 
of collecting revenue was by requisitions upon sovereign 
States, which could only be enforced by war. This body 
had fallen into universal contempt. A peaceful revolution 
delivered the United States from the Confederacy, from 
which no relief could be hoped, and gave them a consti- 
tution with the powers that system of government wanted. 
The new government was inaugurated, its measures of re- 
cuperation were prompt and wise, and the revival of hope, 
of confidence, enterprise, and industry in every pursuit was 
immediate. The success of the new government being no 
longer doubtful, its ability to discharge the debt of the 
Kevolution at no distant day was certain, and it was the 
duty of the nation therefore to adopt the necessary measures 
to pay this sacred debt. At the opening of the second ses- 
sion of the First Congress in January, 1790, Washington, 
while he recommended the use of all proper means to ad- 
vance agriculture, commerce, and manufactures, urged, 
above all, provision to maintain the public credit. The 
celebrated report of Hamilton was made January 15th, by 
which it appeared that the foreign debt of the United States 
amounted to eleven millions, their domestic debt to forty- 
two, and that of the States to twenty-five. The Secretary 
of the Treasury recommended the payment of the debts of 
the United States, and the assumption of the State debts, 
both to be secured by funding them. As he doubted the 
ability of the United States to pay the interest on these 
debts, according to the terms on which they were con- 
tracted, he recommended either the lowering the interest 
on the whole debt, or the postponement of payment of part 
of it to a future time, with the consent of the creditors. 
He also recommended the partial irredeem ability of these 
debts. This matter was called up in the House of Repre- 
sentatives January 28th, and postponed till 8tli February, 



OF GEORGE BEAD. 519 

when it was taken up and resolutions offered approbatory 
of the principles of the report, upon which an animated and 
protracted debate ensued. The opponents of the treasury 
report urged the evils and impolicy of the funding system, 
as exemplified in history, that the full amount of^ the cer- 
tificates ought not to be paid because the public had not 
received it, and the holders by parting with them at a less 
amount had fixed their value and declared their willing- 
ness to sacrifice the difference for the public benefit, and 
that therefore there ought to be a settlement. It was re- 
plied that creditors had a right to repose trust in govern- 
ment for the discharge of their debts, as settled and fixed 
by their certificates, and that without an enormous violation 
of justice and sound policy these ascertained amounts could 
not be diminished by the Legislature. Mr. Madison moved, 
unsuccessfully, to discriminate, so as to pay to holders of 
certificates their highest price in market at any time, and 
the residue to the original creditors, and where they had 
not assigned, they to receive the whole debt. This dis- 
crimination would have saved nothing to the public. It 
was opposed by assignees of certificates and by honest men, 
in Congress and out of it, who believed that these certifi- 
cates, being assignable, were contracts with assignees as 
much as with original holders, and that honor forbade the 
violation of the contracts of government no less than those 
of individuals, and sound policy, for the assignability of 
public securities was essential to give them credit, and after 
so tlagrant an instance of bad faith, few or none would take 
them as assignees thereafter. 

But the proposition to assume the State debts encoun- 
tered the most determined opposition, and caused great 
excitement within Congress, and throughout the Union, 
and was debated with much ability and warmth. 

The Revolutionary war had been waged by the States, 
sometimes separately, at others conjointly, sometimes with 
the funds of the United States, and sometimes with their 
own means. The war debt was therefore incurred partly 
by the Confederacy and partly by the States, and when the 
requisition system was adopted the war was chiefiy main- 
tained by State agency. Tlie making good to the army 
the depreciation of their pay was assumed by the States, 
some of whom had funded the amount assumed, and paid 



520 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 

the interest, while others had made no provision for it; but 
all had somewhat reduced the principal sum. A settlement 
of the accounts of the States with the Confederacy was 
earnestly wished, but small progress had been made therein, 
for it was beset with intricacies and obscurities. These 
debts, thus unascertained, it was proposed the United States 
should assume. 

The assumption was opposed because it would give the 
United States undue and dangerous influence, as it would 
take to them almost the whole power of taxation, and leave 
the States but the semblance of it ; because it was uncon- 
stitutional,* there being no grant of this power, and of 
questionable policy, as it would lay on the Union a burden 
of unascertained amount, which would require great and 
imprudent taxation, and, as the impost and excise could 
not produce the necessary sum, a land-tax would be un- 
avoidable, which could be far better levied by the States; 
because the States had not petitioned for this measure, and 
when they did it would be time enough to entertain it, and 
many of them were decidedly opposed to it ; because the 
only assumption should be of balances ascertained ; because 
the State debts by being assumed would be perpetuated, 
whereas if left to the States they would be paid, as they 
were in the course of being by many of them ; because the 
proposed assumption would so increase the public debt as 
to impair the public credit, for all stocks lessened in value 
as they increased in quantity; because the funded debt 
would flow to the cities, into the hands of a few rich mer- 
chants, or be bought by foreigners, and the interest of the 
debt, raised by onerous taxation, go abroad in specie ; be- 

* " We have had one assumption in our country, and that in a case which 
was small in amount and free from the impediment of a constitutional 
objection, for the debts proposed to be assumed were incurred for the 
general good, — the general defence during the Revolution, — but which 
was attended by such evils as should deter posterity from imitating the 
example. It was in the first year of the Federal government, and, al- 
though the assumed debts were only twenty millions, and were alleged 
to have been contracted for general purposes, yet the assumption was 
attended by circumstances of intrigue and corruption which led to the 
most violent dissensions in Congress, suspended its business for a 
season, drove some of the States to the verge of secession, and men- 
aced the Union with instant dissolution." — Benton^s Thirty Years in 
the United States Senate, vol. ii. pp. 173, 174. 



OF GEORGE READ. 521 

cause it would be unjust, for thereby the States that had 
taxed themselves most to pay their debts would be taxed 
to pay the debts of States that had not; because the 
settlement of the accounts of the States and United States 
would be delayed, if not prevented, by assumption, and in- 
superable difficulties arise; because all the creditors would 
not change the security of their debts, nor could it be as- 
certained whether they had been incurred for general or 
local purposes. These were the principal objections. 

In support of assumption it was urged that these so-called 
State debts were in truth debts of the United States, having 
been contracted for the common cause, as appeared by ex- 
amination of public records, as well as by a review of the 
origin of the several classes of these debts. True, they 
were contracted by the States, but the complex nature of 
the American political system made it necessary to levy 
money to carry on the war, by their agency, since tliey 
had all the resources of the country, and the distribution 
of the debt among the States for payment was necessary 
from the distribution of political power under the Confeder- 
ation; that as power over the resources of the country was 
transferred by the Constitution from the States to the gen- 
eral government, the so-called State debts ought to be as- 
sumed with it ; that the assumption was not the creation 
of a new debt, but only the reacknowledging of an old one; 
that if this debt (as was true) had only been transferred to 
facilitate its payment, being in its origin Continental, tliere 
was no constitutional objection to restoring its original 
character; that assumption was constitutional, because 
Congress possessed the power to levy taxes or borrow 
money to pay the debts, and provide for the connnon de- 
fence and welfare of the Union, and these debts were debts 
of the United States, incurred for their defence, and the 
payment of them would be for their welfare ; that if Con- 
gress could not borrow money to pay the debts of a past 
war, they could not do so to pay the debt of a future one ; 
that if the Federal government should pay debts admitted 
to be those of the Union, and the States be left to pay those 
contracted by their agency, there might be dangerous or at 
least inconvenient jealousy, competition, and clashing of 
iurisdiction in rcjiard to subjects over which their power to 



522 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 

tax was concurrent, and between the different classes of 
public creditors ; that the excise would be more profitable 
if levied by the general government than by thirteen gov- 
ernments ; that if the debt should be paid by the States 
there would be no uniform system of taxation for its pay- 
ment, which would make the burden unequal, and, as the 
agents would be more numerous, the expense would be 
greater; that some States might make no provision for 
their debts, and could the Union leave those of defaultins: 
States unsatisfied, being in truth the debtor ? that the as- 
sumption would not delay, but facilitate, the settlement of 
the accounts of the States, for its advocates desired this 
settlement, and had prepared a plan for it; !hat the burden 
of the war had been unequally borne by the States, — jus- 
tice therefore demanded that it should be equahzed by an 
apportionment, of the debt thereby incurred, among them 
all, in order to which there must be a settlement of accounts 
between them; but, with such settlement or without it, as- 
sumption was indispensable, for debtor States could not be 
compelled to pay the balances found against them ; that 
assumption would quiet the anxious public debtors and put 
an end to speculation, so rife, and so much denounced by 
its opponents ; that if the influence of the general govern- 
ment should come in competition with that of the States, 
the latter would triumph, because the ties of the citizens to 
their States were more numerous and stronger than those 
to the Federal government, and, at any rate, if assumption 
would dangerously increase the influence of the Union, too 
much was proved, and the power of the purse and the 
sword ought to have been left by the Constitution to the 
States ; that if the expenses of the Revolutionary war must 
be borne by the States, the expense of future ones should 
be borne by them ; that if assumption might lead to con- 
solidation, non-assumption might to disunion ; that if the 
amount of the debts proposed to be assumed was unascer- 
tained, they were justly due, and ought to be paid, and, if 
never exactly ascertained, such an approximation might be 
reached as would be sufficient ; and, if the public resources 
were not equal to pay all, they ought to be equitably ap- 
portioned ; that assumption would not perpetuate these 
debts, because the general government, with more ability 
to pay, might be presumed more willing to do so; that the 



OF GEORGE BEAD. 523 

question was not whether or not a public debt was a 
blessing, but how to dispose of one existing, — should it be 
left to discredit the nation by non-payment, or delay of it 
to distress the unhappy holders of it by hope deferred, and 
be the subject of ruinous and demoralizing speculation, or 
to remove these evils by funding it, and so making it a cir- 
culating medium equal in value to gold and silver, and an 
increase of business capital much needed, and so, admitting 
public debt to be an evil, turning it, partially at least, into 
a blessing ; that if the funded debt would llow into cities, 
and into the hands of merchants, so much the better, for it 
would increase their capital used for the public benefit; 
that if foreigners should buy the funded debt, they would 
do so from confidence in the ability and willingness of the 
United States to pay it, and nothing could more advance 
the public credit (so essential to the public welfare) as such 
a manifestation of it, and they would pay for the debt gold 
and silver; that, to the argument that it would be unjust to 
burden States who had Exerted themselves to the uttermost 
to pay their debts wnth the debts of States who had made 
no such exertion, it could be truly replied it must be pre- 
sumed each State exerted itself to its utmost power, and, 
if it could not or would not make provision for creditors to 
whom the Union was equitably bound, the argument for 
assumption was stronger; that the irredeemability of the 
debt, except as was proposed, was necessary to give it value, 
and as to the objection that it was unwise for government 
to tie up its hands from paying it whenever able to do so, 
it was replied that it would probably not be able to redeem 
sooner than the bill provided, nor even pay six per cent, 
interest upon the w^hole debt, nor even, if it could, would it 
be wise to pledge all its means for these purposes, for con- 
tingent expenses were unavoidable ; that there was no per- 
manent provision for the payment of interest on the public 
debt and for its gradual extinguishment, and therefore the 
provisions of this bill were preferable to the bare obligation 
to do both, which was all the creditors had to trust to, — and 
where was the injustice of proposing an arrangement, vol- 
untary on their part, by which thej- and the government 
would both be benefited, the one with time, the other with 
certain though delayed payment of principal, and partial 
present and eventual full payment of interest ? that if the 



524 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 

irredeemability of the debt were taken away, there was no 
probability that it would be sooner paid, and it would re- 
main fluctuating in value and the subject of demoralizing 
speculation, instead of a safe mode of investing money, — 
making it equal to gold and silver, and so an increase of 
capital, which was so much needed, — and, until the funded 
debt rose above par, the United States, though restricted 
b}' the resolution, could profitably go into market and pur- 
chase the stock, so that the evil of debt would not probably 
be prolonged by this proposed measure, as there was no 
probability^ of an excess in the treasury more than enough 
to buy stock at and below par. And in reply to the ques- 
tion, what, then, was the use of irredeemability? the answer 
was that it was necessary to give value to the stock pro- 
posed to be created. 

The arguments for these resolutions, it appears to me, 
preponderate over those against them. They were adopted 
in the House of Representatives by a majority of two votes, 
the State debts being assumed to the amount of tw^enty-five 
millions of dollars. Soon after, the members from North 
Carolina took their seats, which changed the majority to 
two against the resolution for assumption, wliich was 
reconsidered and rejected ; and several efforts to reconsider 
this vote having failed, the bill "making provision for the 
debt of the United States" was passed without the provision 
for the assumption of the State debts, and sent to the Senate. 
The assumption was, apparently, defeated irretrievably, 
when its friends availed themselves of the unsettled ques- 
tion, "Where should be the permanent seat of the Federal 
government," to effect an understanding, which secured 
its adoption. This question had long agitated and divided 
the Continental Congress, and excited no little feeling 
throughout the States. The Eastern States would gladly 
have retained the seat of government of the Union in New 
York, but it was so far from the centre that this could not 
be accomplished. The Middle States desired Philadelphia, 
or some other point between the Delaware and the Po- 
tomac; while the South preferred the location of the Federal 
city permanently on the banks of the Potomac. The under- 
standing was that the capital of the Union should be for ten 
years at Philadelphia and permanently upon the Potomac, 
and the State debts should be assumed by the United 



OF GEORl^E READ. 525 

States.'-' The bill fixing the tetnporary and permanent loca- 
tion of the United States government then passed the Senate, 
Mr. Read voting for it (Journals of the Senate, vol. i. p. 172),-}- 
and the bill providing for the United States debt, i:fending 
in the Senate, with an amendment that the State debts 
should be assumed to the amount of twenty-one millions 
five hundred thousand dollars, apportioned in specified sums 
to the States, so that each would receive what it would have 
to pay, and thus amended passed the House by a majority of 
six votes. Thus by the almost simultaneous passage of the 
bills the differing sections of the Union obtained measures 
they desired, and were reconciled to the adoption of those they 
disliked. I The beneficial results of this bill providing for 



* This compromise was devised by Hamilton, and effected by his 
influence and that of Robcn-t Morris, exerted over members of Congress 
of the Eastern and Middle States, and that of Mr. Jetforson, brought to 
bear upon Southern members of that body, on Hamilton's suggestion. — 
Jeffersoii's Worka, vol. i.\. p. 93. 

Jefferson, who looked (knowing his monarchical predilection) upon 
Hamilton's financial measures with a jaundiced eye, soon repented of 
the aid he had thus lent, and stigmatized this compromise "as a fiscal 
manoiuvre, to aid which he had been entrapped by a finesse of Hamil- 
ton" (Irving's Life of Washington, pp. G6, G7); but surely it was the 
hapi)y thought of this great statesman to accomph'sh a just measure, 
the defeat of which might have dissevered the States, held together, 
in the infancy of the central government just inaugurated, by feeljle 
ties. 

Hamilton disavowed the design imputed to him by his rival "of intro- 
ducing aristocracy or monarchy by the inlluence of a government con- 
tinually changing hands;" urging, I think truly, " that more than a life- 
time would be insufficient thus to accomplish this end, and therefore 
neither ambition, interest, nor other selfish motive could prompt him to 
attempt it." Besides, the people were so little disposed to such change 
that no sane man could think it feasible. 

•j" The Senate proceeded to the third reading of this bill, July '2Lst, 
lt90, when it passed as amended. 

Yeas — Butler, Carroll, Dalton, Ellsworth, Elmer, Johnson, Izard, 
King, Langdon, Morris, Patterson, Read, Schuyler, and Strong — 14. 

Xays — Bassett, Few, Foster, Gunn, Hawkins, Henry, Johnston, 
Lee, Maclay, Stanton, Walker, and Wingate — 12. — Journals of Uailed 
Statea Senate, vol. i. p. 187. 

The States of New York, Massachusetts, Connecticut. New Jersey, 
and South Carolina were in favor of assumption ; and Maryland, Dela- 
ware, and Pennsylvania divided; while Virginia, Rhode Island, North 
Carolina, and Georgia were opposed to it. Massachusetts, Connecticut, 
and South Carolina owed more than half the total of the State del)ts. 

X Writings of Thomas Jeflerson, vol. iii. pp. 152-15-4. 



526 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 

the United States debt were so sudden and so great as to 
demonstrate its wisdom and to restore in no long time 
public harmony. 

Congress adjourned on the 12th day of August, 1790. 

It had been the practice when a manor was surveyed 
for the proprietaries of Pennsylvania to permit the sur- 
veyor, as a compensation for his services, to lay off a par- 
ticular tract for himself, for which he paid a much less price 
than that required for the remaining ones. General Thomp- 
son had surveyed a manor in Westmoreland County, Penn- 
sylvania, for the Penns, and, as was customary, laid off a 
tract for himself, which he understood he was to receive 
without payment ; but his attention having been, to his 
great loss in this and in other cases, diverted from his pri- 
vate business by his devotion to the public service, he died 
without having obtained a title to this tract. His widow 
was now about applying for it. All which appears by the 
following letters : 

"Philadelphia, 23d September, 1790. 

" Dear Brother, — I was with Mrs. Thompson yesterday 
when she saw Mr. Physick, who, on reading your letter, 
assured her he was disposed to render her any services that 
might be in his power relative to the business mentioned in 
it. He said his correspondence now was with the younger 
Mr. John Penn, to whom he would write concerning it, and 
transmit a copy of Mrs. Thompson's letter, with a copy of 
yours to him. 

" He advised her to see Mr. Anthony Butler, who is now 
the agent of the older Mr. Penn here. We accordinglj^ saw 
Mr. Butler, to whom I made known the nature of Mrs. 
Thompson's claim and expectations. He said he had 
become acquainted with the circumstances relative to that 
business. He said it had always been the practice when a 
manor was surveyed for the person who did it to mark a 
particular tract, which he generally got for a price consider- 
ably less than the remaining tracts were valued at, and he 
could have no doubt but the one in question would be 
granted to Mrs. Thompson on very moderate terms. With 
respect to the expectation of its being given as a gratuity, 
he could only observe that Mr. Penn, having been stripped 
of so much of his property in this countr}', had it not now 



OF GEORGE READ. ^'2>'J 

in his power to do those acts of generosity which liis disj)o- 
sition would incite him to; but it' she desired it, he would 
write to Mr, Penn, and inclose a duplicate of her letter, with 
any other paper that might be deemed necessary or proper, 
and do her any other service respecting it which would 
consist with his situation, as he knew Mr. Penn had enter- 
tained a f\ivorable opinion of General Thompson's services 
and attachment to him and his family. You will therefore 
let me know if you think it proper Mrs. Thompson should 
accept Mr. Butler's offer of services in this business, and if 
so, whether a copy of your letter to Mr. Physick mny be 
given him to inclose with his own and Mrs. Thompson's 
letter to Mr. Penn. I have made a duplicate of her letter, 
which she has signed, and a copy of yours to Mr. Physick, 
to be given to Mr. Butler in case you should think the 
measure a right one. I have only to add that from my 
knowledge of Mr. Butler I entertain a favorable opinion of 
his candor and integrity. Both Mr. Physick and Mr. 
Butler proposed writing by the next packet, which will sail 
in about eight or ten days. 

" My family desire to be affectionately remembered to 
yours and our other friends in your neighborhood. 
"Yours very afiectionately, 

"James Read. 

"George Read, Esquire." 

Mrs. Thompson had addressed the letter next inserted to 
John Penn from 

"Pittsburg, September 6th, ITOO. 

"Sir, — In the year 1780 my late husband, General 
Thompson, obtained of you a grant of five hundred acres 
of land, situate in the manor of Denmark, in Westmoreland 
County [Pennsylvania], which I understood from him was 
intended as a present, though the terms set down in the 
grant were that he should have the preference in pur- 
chasing. 

" I am informed that Mr. Woods, your agent, has laid off 
that manor into different tracts (a copy of which [plot], 
with the lines of this tract, is inclosed), and has fixed on 
them prices, and, among others, has set a sum per acre on 
the tract I have mentioned ; but of this I have not had any 



528 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 

notice from him. I am anxious to know your intentions 
upon this subject, and whether I am to be charged or not, 
and have therefore taken the Hberty of addressing you. I 
would consider it as a particular favor to hear from you. 
If the land was intended as a present, I wish the deed to 
be made to my son, William Allen Thompson ; if it was 
not, I would be glad to know as soon as convenient, that I 
might prepare for the payment of the purchase-money. An 
answer to this [letter], directed to the care of Mr. James 
Biddle, Philadelphia, or Mr. George Read, New Castle, will 
be gratefully accepted by your obedient servant, 

"Catharine Thompson. 
"Honorable John Penn." 

The foregoing letter was inclosed in one written by Mrs. 
Thompson to Mr. Read. 

" Dear Sir, — The inclosed letter to Mr. Penn is on a 
subject of importance to me. Mr. Thompson had obtained 
from Mr. Penn a tract of land in one of his manors in Penn- 
sylvania, which I understood to be a present, but had not 
got a conveyance. Since Mr. Thompson's death, Mr. Penn's 
agents have laid off this manor into different surveys and 
fixed prices on them, and on this one among others. I wish 
Mr. Penn to be informed of this, and prefer applying to 
him rather than to his agents. I must request the ftivor 
of you to deliver the inclosed [letter] to Mr. Chew, or any 
other of Mr. Penn's friends who will take the trouble of 
transmitting it to him, if he is yet in England, which I sup- 
jDOse he is. When he is acquainted with the circumstances, 
I flatter myself he will give a deed without requiring pay- 
ment of the sum at which the land is valued. 
" I am yours affectionately, 

" Catharine Thompson.* 

" The Honorable George Read." 

The third session of Congress commenced in Philadel- 
phia, December 6th, 1790. f 



* Of the result of Mrs. Thompson's application I am ignorant, 
f See Appendix D. 



OF GEORGE READ. 599 

Mr. Read attended in the United States Senate, Decem- 
ber 8th. and througli the rest of the session. 

The President, in his messa^jje, congratidated Conj^ress 
on the prosperous state of public affairs, but not without 
the expression of some degree of anxiety for the future. 
The clouds of war were gathering over Europe, and, if hos- 
tilities should become general there, they must operate un- 
favorably upon the revived agriculture and commerce, and 
the restored credit of the United States.=-= The western 
frontier was desolated by the cruel warfare of the Indian 
tribes, — an expedition against them had been onl\^ })artially 
successful, and the general government was invoked to pro- 
tect its frontier citizens from the savage foe. 

The prominent measures of this session were the act of 
Congress imposing a further duty on foreign spirits, and a 
duty on spirits distilled within the United States, and the 
act chartering the United States Bank. 

The State debts had been (a small part excepted) as- 
sumed at the last session, but Congress had adjourned with- 
out providing means for payment of interest upon them. The 
Secretary of the Treasury was directed to report the further 
measures needed to establish public credit. He now recom- 
mended a further duty on foreign spirits, and a duty on 
spirits distilled within the United States, and a bill con- 
forming was reported; it encountered violent opposition. 
Its opponents alleged that it did not appear that existing 
taxes were insufhcient to pay this interest; that it was the 
odious excise in truth, exposing the houses of citizens, their 
castles, to the inquisitorial visits of tax-gatherers; that 
the assumption being unpopular in the South and West, 
this tax to pay its interest would be there equally so ; that 
it would be unequal, falling mainly on the western section 
of the Union, and that popular insurrection against it would 
be certain. 

It was replied that the insufficiency of the existing taxes 
for the additional burden, proposed to be provided for, was 
shown by the estimates of the treasury officers, carefully 
prepared, and if there should be excess in the product of 



* "Raised," writes Mr. Jefferson, 20th June, 1790, "to be the first 
on the exchange at Amsterdam, where our paper is above par."' Writ- 
ings of Thomas Jefferson, vol. iii. p. 152. 



530 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 

this duty over the interest it was to pay (which was 
highly improbable), this excess could be advantageously 
applied to the redemption of the public debt; that it 
would be highly impolitic to increase the impost, for com- 
merce was already burdened as much as it could bear, 
and an increase of duties upon it would not increase rev- 
enue, for it would diminish imports and increase smuggling; 
that it was wise to increase the subjects of taxation ; that 
the proposed duty was preferable to a direct tax, because 
less burdensome, being more diffused ; that a direct tax 
would be difficult to raise, for no census had been taken, 
and, the country being sparsely settled, its collection would 
be most expensive and tedious, and it would be more un- 
popular than the duty on domestic spirits ; that direct 
taxation was the chief resource of the nation in emergen- 
cies, and ought to be reserved for them intact ; that indi- 
rect taxation was always preferable to direct, because paid 
generally without consciousness of it, and so without reluc- 
tance and ill feeling to government, being, like the insensible 
perspiration or exhalations from the earth, of such tenuity 
as to be invisible ; that a like duty had already been levied 
in several States without dissatisfaction ; that the substi- 
tutes suggested for this duty, taxes on salaries, or pensions, 
or lawj'^ers, or legal instruments, or by a stamp-act, were 
more objectionable than it was ; and finally, that it was not 
excise, for it would be levied not on spirits in the hands of 
the retailer or consumer, but in the manufactory. 

The bill imposing duties on foreign and domestic spirits, 
having passed the House of Representatives, where it ori- 
ginated, was passed by the Senate, amended, 12th Feb- 
ruary, by the vote of twenty yeas to five nays, Mr. Read 
voting for it. — [Journals of tlie Senate, vol. i. p. 263.) 

The bill to incorporate the subscribers to the Bank of the 
United States was reported 3d January, 1791, by a com- 
mittee of the United States- Senate, appointed to consider 
and report upon the Treasury plan of a national bank, and 
was the subject of earnest and able debate, in that body, 
until the twentieth of that month. 

It was urged by the opponents of this bill that the gen- 
eral utility of the banking system was questionable, and 
features of this bill objectionable : but it was chiefly as- 
sailed on the ground of unconstitutionality. The power to 



OF GEORGE BEAD. 531 

charter a bank was not conferred by the Constitution of the 
United States, nor could it l)e fairly implied from any of 
the powers therein granted, certainly not from the power 
to pass all laws necessary and proper to execute the granted 
powers, for those only were intended without which the 
granted powers could not be executed at all, which was not 
pretended as to a bank. It was further alleged that a pro- 
position to give Congress power to charter banks was helbre 
the convention that framed the Constitution of the United 
States, and not adopted. 

The advocates of the bank replied that the advantages 
of the banking system had been shown by the experience 
of the greatest commercial nations, and, though by a briefer 
experience, in the United vStates. The power to charter a 
bank was not, it must be admitted, expressl}^ granted in 
the Constitution of the United States ; but implied as well 
as expressed powers must be vested in every government, 
for without the former its administration would be imper- 
fect or impracticable. That when a power was conferred 
to accomplish an object, incident to it must be the right to 
use all proper means commonly employed to effect it, and all 
doubt was removed from the subject by the power expressly 
given to Congress to pass all laws " necessary and proper to 
execute the granted powers." A bank was shown to be 
necessary to enable Congress, in the best manner, and some- 
times in any manner, to execute the high trusts of regulating 
conmierce and raising revenue to pay the debts and provide 
for the defence and general welfare of the republic. If the 
provision conferring the power to incorporate a bank was 
proposed and not adopted, as asserted, by the convention 
which framed the Constitution of the United States, it was 
because this body thought it superfluous, inasmuch as 
whenever necessary to the exercise of any granted power, 
it passed, as incident to it. 

The bill incorporating the subscribers to the Bank of the 
United States was passed January *24th; by 18 yeas to 5 
nays, Mr. Read voting for the bill, and sent to the House 
of Representatives for concurrence.* 

In conformity with the usage of the Continental Congress 
and of the convention which framed the Constitution of the 

* Journals of the United States Senate, vol. i. p. 234, 



532 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 

United States, the Senate sat with closed doors, not only 
when occupied with executive business, but when actin.s^ in 
their legislative capacity. On the 24th of February, 1791, 
Mr. Monroe moved that when the Senate should be sitting 
in their legislative capacitj^, their doors should be open, 
except when secrecy might be required. His motion was 
considered on the 25th and rejected, — 17 nays to 9 yeas 
(Journals of the United States Senate, vol. i. pp. 280, 281, 
286, 287),'^' Mr. Read voting in the negative. 

Congress adjourned on the 3d day of March, 1791 ; but 
Mr. Read was detained for some days after by an executive 
business session of the Senate, called chiefly to pass upon 
nominations to the army offices, made necessary by the 
increase of the regular military force. 

Independently of its connection with the subject of this 

* On the 26th of March, 1792, at the next session of the Senate, a 
similar resolution was moved and rejected, Mr. Read voting against it; 
and again, 3d February, 1193, Mr. Read being in the negative, — ayes 
7, nays 18 (Senate Journal, vol. i. pp. 415, 478). But the perseverance 
of the friends of this resolution at last carried it, 16th January, 1794, 
by the vote of 18 yeas to 9 nays (Ibid., vol. ii. p. 34). It was urged 
by the advocates of this resolution that Senators were responsible to 
their constituents for their conduct ; and the information necessary to 
truly estimate it could not justly be withheld; and the journals did not 
and could not afford it ; that the journals were in the power of the 
Senate; that the publicity of their proceedings is the best mode of 
diffusing information as to the principles, motives, and conduct of Sen- 
ators ; and by withholding the information, responsibility is in truth 
removed and the influence of the people over one branch of the legisla- 
ture annihilated, and the very best security experience had devised 
against neglect of duty or maladministration of power abandoned (Sen- 
ate Journals, vol. ii. p. 478). These reasons seem to me so conclusive 
against the usage of sitting with closed dooi's when engaged in legis- 
lative business, that I wonder the Senate clung to it so long, and it may 
be well regretted that the}^ did, because this obstinate adherence to an ill 
practice has deprived us of their debates at a period when they were 
especially valuable ; and their value was increased by the very circum- 
stance which has deprived us of them, for the occlusion of the public 
from their sittings occluded the temptation " to speak for effect merely,'''' 
with its concomitants, — appeals to popular prejudice, sophistry, and the 
tinsel and embroidery of a meretricious riiL'toric* 



* But, writes a recent historian, " So little interest was evinced in senatorial 
proceedings, and so seldom were they enlivened by elaborate discussions, that for 
many years the galleries oi" the Senate-chamber, Avhcn opened to the public, 
were little resorted to, and no reports exist of senatorial debates, except upon 
two or three special occasions." — Hildreth's History of the United States, vol i. 
p. 450. 



OF GEORGE READ. 533 

biography, the following letter seems to be worthy of 
preservation from its notice, brief though it is, of the infant 
population in the* territory south of the river Ohio, the 
luMiUhy germ of the great conmiunities into which it has 
since expanded, and as giving the outlines of a judgeship in 
a frontier region, Avhich the imagination readily and as truly 
fills up into a picture strangely in contrast to the circum- 
stances of the judicial station in densely peopled countries: 

" Territory op the UNrrED States south or the Ohio, 

""Washington District, 20th September, 1791. 

"Sir, — Your candor and friendship to me will always 
claim my grateful acknowledgments ; and, considering my- 
self under obligations to you, I hold myself bound to make 
such communications respecting my standing in this country 
as are founded in candor and warranted by fact. I arrived 
in this country some time previous to any court being held 
in this district, after I received my appointment. Our 
court was held at Jonesborough, the lOtli day of August, 
and continued for ten daj^s, during which period I had the 
good fortune to impress the bar and people with favorable 
sentiments, of which, for jMrticuIa?' reasons and, your satis- 
faction, I, though very reluctantly, think proper to make 
you acquainted. This, however, is for your own eye, [for] 
it is a species of vanity. I dare not venture beyond the 
limits of your candor and henevolence. 

" This district or territory- is divided into two districts, 
the upper called Washington, the lower Cumberland. There 
are two courts a year held in each. The places of holding 
the courts in the respective districts are about three hun- 
dred miles apart, with a vast wilderness between, much 
, infested with hostile Indians, which renders the passing it 
very dangerous. The judges, however, are necessitated to 
pass it four times a year. One hundred and forty miles of 
it is entirely without inhabitants. The people of this 
country appear well disposed ; they do not, as in most new 
countries, seem inclined to drink, [but], with very ^q\y 
exceptions, sober and orderly, and so far as I have been 
able to make observations, a regard for the government and 
respect for the law seem to pervade the whole territory. 

" If aught in this letter should seem exceptionable, I 
must crave your forgiveness. 



534 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 

*' I am, sir, with sentiments of great respect, your very 
obedient servant, 

" JdSEPH Anderson. 

" Honorable George Read, Esquire, Senator in the U. S. 
Congress, corner of Fifth and Market Streets, Philadelphia. 
Honored by Mr. Sevier." 

Judge Anderson served with credit, during the war of 
our Revolution, in the Jersey line, I believe ; was a member, 
and a leading one, of the United States Senate, from the 
State of Tennessee, for a long period, — seventeen winters, 
as I think he informed me; and afterwards for many years 
first comptroller of the United States Treasury. He was a 
man of great worth, very polished manners, and of con- 
siderable address, as I have heard, and as was apparent, 
when, on his request, in 1832, I was introduced to him, at 
an age protracted beyond the ordinary terminus of human 
existence. Neither age nor the lapse of near half a cen- 
tury had chilled his gi-atitude to Mr. Read fur his influence, 
exerted in the United States Senate, in favor of his nomina- 
tion to his judgeship, which, I inferred, met some opposi- 
tion. It would be cynical to ascribe his certainly self-com- 
placent mention of his debut as a judge to anything but a 
commendable anxiety to satisfy Mr. Read that he had not 
proved unworthy of his support and vote. He was a com- 
municant in one of the religious societies in AYashington, 
and, I believe, a truly pious man. « 

Congress met in Philadelphia, 24th October, 1791, and 
Mr. Read attended on that day, and throughout this, the 
first session of the Second Congress. 

The most important acts of this session were two : one 
for apportioning representatives among the States, the other 
for the increase of the army. 

The Constitution of the United States provided that rep- 
resentation and taxation should be apportioned among the 
States according to their respective numbers, and that the 
number of representatives should not exceed one for every 
thirty thousand, but each State should have at least one 
representative. A bill was introduced into the House, which 
gave to each State one member for every thirty thousand 
persons, and was passed, and was sent to the Senate, No- 
vember 24th, where it was passed with the amendment 



OF GEORGE READ. 535 

giving to each State one representative for every thirty- 
three thousand persons, Mr. Read voting for it (Journals 
of the Senate, vol. i. pp. 354, 408). The ground of this 
amendment was tlie great amount and inequality of unrep- 
resented fractions which resulted from the ratio proj)osed 
by the House, operating hardly upon the small States, 
where these fractions could not be distributed among 
several members. This amendment was non-concurred in 
by the House, and the bill failed. A bill substantially the 
same as this, without the amendment, then passed the 
House, was sent to the Senate, and amended by that body, 
thus : applying thirty thousand, as a divisor, to the total 
of i)opulation of the United States, and taking the quotient 
(one hundred and twenty) as the number given by the ratio 
adopted by the House, they apportioned this number, by 
this ratio, among the States (according to their population) 
until as many representatives as it would give were allotted 
to each. The residuary members were then distributed 
among the States having the highest fractions, thus giving 
a more equitable apportionment of representation to popu- 
lation than the original bill, and making it more accord 
with the prevalent wish in Congress, and outside of it, that 
the House should consist of as many members as the Con- 
stitution would permit. The House concurred in this 
amendment, but the President vetoed this bill, because the 
Constitution required that representatives should be appor- 
tioned among the States according to their respective num- 
bers, and there was no proportion or divisor which, applied 
to tlie respective numbers of the States, would yield the 
number of representatives provided by this bill ; and, sec- 
ondly, because the Constitution provided that the represen- 
tatives should not exceed one for every thirty thousand 
persons, which restriction applied to the separate and 
respective numbers of the States, and the bill allotted to 
eight States more than one representative for thirty thou- 
sand (Journal United States Senate, vol. i. p. 422). A bill 
then passed both houses of Congress, apportioning the rep- 
resentatives to the several States in the ratio of one for 
every thirty thousand in each State, which received the 
assent of the President. It was received from the House in 
the Senate, lOtli of April, and by u/nmhnon,^ consent read 
the first, second, and third times, and passed (Journals of 
Senate, vol. i. p. 428). 



536 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 

The people of the United States were now divided into 
two great parties, Federalists and Democrats. The atten- 
tive reader of American history cannot fail to discern the 
germs of these parties anterior to the adoption of the Con- 
stitution. The jealousy of Congress manifested by the 
States, in the course of the war of the Revolution, at the 
most critical periods, threatening ruin to the common 
cause, in no long time after the recognition of our independ- 
ence by Great Britain reduced the general government to 
utter insignificance. The conflict of opinions upon the mo- 
mentous question of the ratification of the Constitution 
widened the separation between the adherents of Congress, 
who endeavored to. maintain the legitimate authority of 
that assembly, and the friends to the preponderance of the 
States in our complicated political system. The recent 
measures — the funding of the public debt, and the assump- 
tion, and chartering of a national bank — had so inflamed 
the States Rights party that at this session they for the 
first time appeared in open and organized opposition to the 
administration. They held, no doubt sincerely, that the 
only source of danger to the rights of the people was the 
tendency of the central power to swallow up the States, 
which, unless met by prompt and strenuous resistance, 
must result in the establishment of a consolidated govern- 
ment with a king, if not in name, in truth, at its head. 
The Federalists, on the contrary, and as truly, believed 
the political system, happily established by the Constitu- 
tion, to be endangered by the tendency of the States to fly 
off from the central authority, and successfully, when in- 
terest or passion (often active and violent) prompted, which 
would bring them, if not wisely counteracted, to disunion, 
followed by civil war, and terminating in despotism. The 
Federalists were the majority in the Congress which termi- 
nated 3d March, 1791. They might well appeal to the 
measures of that Congress in proof of their wisdom and 
j)atriotism. They had organized the general government, 
relieved the nation from the reproach of the design to re- 
pudiate debts of a sacred character, or of indifference to the 
payment of them, restored its lost public credit, provided a 
sufficient and permanent revenue, and wisely legislated to 
protect our commerce from foreign rivalry. They could 
truly and proudly appeal to the prosperity which gladdened 



OF GEORGE READ. 537 

every heart and stimulated enterprise and industry in every 
walk of business, as the effects of their policy. But the 
Democrats saw in their measures remote dangers to liberty 
more than counterbalnncinfr their immediate p:ood effects. 
"The debt," said its leaders, "was funded, at the expense 
of the people, for the benefit of capitalists, — mean specu- 
lators upon the necessities of their brethren, — to rally to 
the support of the administration a band of corrupt ad- 
herents, and to render it omnipotent. The assumption was 
an iniquity, the bank charter unconstitutional, and the tax 
on domestic spirits the odious excise which justified rebel- 
lion." These parties had their representatives and ex- 
ponents in tbe cabinet even of the President, in the great 
statesmen filling the secretaryships of state and the treas- 
ury, both sincere lovers of liberty, but each believing the 
other its deadliest enemy. The efforts of the President to 
reconcile tliese eminent men (now in open hostility) were 
strenuous, judicious, and kind, but unavailing.* 

Such was the state of parties when the disastrous defeat 
of General St. Clair made it necessary for the President to 
recommend the immediate augmentation of the army of the 
United States. A bill was reported in the House of Rep- 
resentatives for raising three additional infantry regiments 
and a squadron of cavalry, to serve for three years, unless 
sooner discharged. This bill was warmly opposed. The 
justice of the war with the Indians was questioned, for it 
w'as provoked, there was ground to suspect, by the aggres- 
sion of the whites, and its necessity, for it would be wiser 
and cheaper to withdraw our citizens from the disputed 
territory, than to burden the people, already heavily 
taxed, with the expense of such a war; but conceding 
the justice and necessity of this war, the existing army 
was sufficient for it; and if not, the militia was a better 
force to wage it, serving for short periods, as only would 
be required, and eager to revenge the murders of their 
brethren and devastation of their settlements. Always 
superior to regulars in intelligence, they would surpass 
them in promptitude and in vigor, and at least equal 

* Marshall's Life of Wasliinjrton, vol. v. pp. 346-359; Writings of 
Thomas Jefferson, vol. iii. pp. 359-368. 

35 



538 LIFE AND CORBESPONDENGE 

them in courage, and, from their habits as frontiersmen, 
be far better suited for Indian warfare. It was replied 
that no doubt three thousand American citizens had been 
cruelly killed or hurried into captivity, and a large ex- 
tent of country laid waste ; and a war to punish these 
atrocities and prevent their repetition was surely neces- 
sary, and was just, especially as every effort for peace had 
been made by the President in vain ; that in the state 
of exasperated feelings between the whites and Indians 
peace would be impossible until the latter should be chas- 
tised and the frontier secured by driving them farther "west. 
But if the United States declined further hostilities, would 
they cease ? On the contrary, it was certain that the 
Indians, emboldened by what they would believe the pusil- 
lanimity of the pale faces, would visit the unhappy frontier, 
on a wider and widening area, with all the horrors of their 
infernal warfare. Fifteen hundred Indian warriors hung 
like a dark cloud upon the western frontier, ready to spread 
ruin and death along and within it, and gentlemen should be 
ashamed to object to the expense of protecting their brethren, 
the hardy pioneers of civilization, with all its blessings. If 
government should be left to prosecute this war with inade- 
quate means, its expense would in the end only be en- 
hanced, for another unsuccessful campaign would embolden 
the enemy and make their subjugation more tedious; and 
while the courage of the militia was admitted, it was urged 
that experience had shown it to be far more expensive than 
regular soldiers, insubordinate, and, except for temporary 
service, not to be relied upon. 

This bill, entitled "An act for making further and more 
effectual provision for protecting the frontier of the United 
States," was passed by the House, and sent to the Senate 
for concurrence, February 2d, 1792. It was debated till 
the 23d of that month, when it passed the Senate by the 
vote of 16 yeas to 11 nays, Mr. Read voting for it, and 
against several preceding motions to strike out sections of 
it. (Journals of the Senate of the United States, vol. i. 
p. 395.) After disagreement as to amendments of this bill 
with the House, the final report of their joint committee of 
conference was accepted by both, and tlie bill was passed, 
and, March 5th, was approved by the President.- — Jour- 
nals of tlie Senate of the United States, vol. i. pp. 402-404. 



OF GEORGE BEAD. 539 

On the 8th of May this session of Congress was closed by 
adjoiirnment to the 5th day of November, 1792. 

Mr. Read's second surviving son, in behalf of whom the 

letter next presented to the reader was written, had been 

regularly trained as a merchant in one of the first houses 

of Philadelpliia, and realized by his subsequent character 

the expectations awakened by his exemplary deportment 

in his youth. He made several voyages as supercargo to 

India, which I have no doubt agreeably interrupted the 

monotony of Mr. Read's family life, the hope of his son's 

safe return, as is usual in such cases, predominating over 

fears for his safety. 

"New Castle, 20th August, 1792. 

"Dear Sir, — From our long acquaintance I have taken 
the liberty of introducing the bearer of this, my son Wil- 
liam Read, to your acquaintance as a young mercantile 
man, who has served a lour years' apprenticeship with Mr. 
Mordccai Lewis, where I got him placed originally, with 
the assistance of Messrs. Samuel and Isaac Wharton, your 
friends, in the year 1789. Mr. Lewis was pleased to in- 
trust him and Mr. George Plumsted with the agency of the 
ship 'Union,' Captain Ashmead, belonging to Mordccai 
Lewis & Co., sent to Canton in China, and, as I have always 
understood, his conduct on that occasion was satisfactory to 
Mr. Lewis and all concerned. He has now a desire to 
become the supercargo of Mr. S. Howell's ship ' Samson' 
in her next voyage to Canton, and has made his application 
to him for that [)urpose ; and my son understands you will 
be a considerable shipper, and if such, wishes to be made 
known to you and have your approbation of him. I have 
the happiness as a parent who has attended to his conduct 
hitherto carefully to say that he is of the best disposition, 
strict integrity and probity, and apparently active and dili- 
gent. '=' It would give me pleasure if you, upon further 



* Mr. William Read, after several successful voyages to India as 
supercargo, establislu-d himself, with his brother-in-law. Matthew 
Pcarce, in riiiladelphia, as merchants in the East India trade, but bv 
failure of a firm for whom they had indorsed, and capture of one of their 
ships on her return voyage from Canton by a French privateer, ott'the 
capes of Delaware, after several years of i)rosperous business they were 
obliged to suspend, and my uncle, to retrieve his fortunes, to sail again 
to India, where he remained for several years trading to several ports. 



540 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 

inquiry into the character and capacity of my son, could 
give him your countenance and aid in obtaining the place 
of supercargo on board of Mr. Howell's ship in her intended 
voyage to Canton. Excuse the freedom I have taken on 
this occasion, and believe me yours, very sincerely, 

"Geokge Read. 
" Mr. John Wharton, Philadelphia." 

Mr. Read, while attending Congress, had resided with 
Mrs. House, whose boarding-house was the best in Phila- 
delphia. He was now obliged to inform her that he could 
not be one of her family during the approaching session of 
Congress : 

"New Castle, October, 13th 1*792. 

" My dear Madam, — In July last I was seized with an 
intermittent fever, which continued with little alteration 
for more than six weeks, — since which I have been con- 
sidered by my physician in a state of recovery, he only 
recommending exercise and a dose or two of bark in the 
twenty-four hours as the means to effect it ; but I have 
progressed so slowly in that recovery that I am apprehen- 
sive I shall be very much of an invalid through the winter, 
and as such would be rather a disagreeable lodger. It 
would distress me greatly daily to exhibit a countenance 
expressive of bodily infirmity among so large a body of 
gentlemen as your house has been and will be filled with, 
and in such a condition I must be an unpleasant object to 
others in full health and spirits ; therefore it is, madam, 
that I must think of living with more privacy than I can 
with you. And to this end I have it in view to go to the 
small house occupied by my two sons, in Dock Street, in 
which Mrs. Read, who has lately been on a visit to them, 
says I may be comfortably lodged and have all that retire- 



He was widely known and respected in Philadelphia, where he died in 
1846, in his seventy-ninth year. An uncle of the celebrated traveller, 
Edward Daniel Clarke, from his extraordinary amiability of temper was 
called Mild William. This epithet might as truly have been applied to 
my uncle, who was so gentle and amiable that nothing could disturb his 
equanimity. His wife, losing her own temper at his imperturbableness, 
once exclaimed, "Mr. Read, why will you not be angry?" He was 
much devoted to books, but too modest to display the extensive knowl- 
edge he had acquired. 



OF GEORGE READ. 541 

raent I would wish for in my present state of health. You, 
madam, from the want of health in the two last years, can 
well judge of what must be the feelings of an invalid among 
your numerous lodgers, and I presume will consider my 
proposal of secluding myself from a sitiuxtion in your house, 
always pleasing to me on every account, as prudent and 
necessary. So'that the room I have generally had, and 
you were so good as to say I should have on my return this 
fall, may be disposed of for the ensuing winter, to your best 
liking. Could I suppose my declining to occupy it would 
prevent your having another occupant for it, I should im- 
mediately tell you that no disappointment of that sort 
should affect you ; but I take it for granted that as soon as 
the vacancy shall be known it will be instantly applied for. 
I should have given this intimation sooner, but I flattered 
myself that from regular exercise on horseback and good 
management of myself I might be reinstated in time for 
the nieeting of Congress ; however, at present it seems far 
otherwise, and I must submit. I wish you to present my 
best wishes to Mrs. Triest and compliments to all of your 
present family. And I am, with much esteem, yours, 

sincerely, ^ ^ 

"George Read. 

" To Mrs. House, Philadelphia." 

The second session of the Second Congress commenced 
at Philadelphia, 5th November, 1792, when Mr. Head 
attended in the Senate, and was present till it closed. This 
was the last session of his service in Congress. 

On the 22d of November Messrs. Johnston, Cabot, and 
Read were appointed a committee to consider the expe- 
diency of a law respecting fugitives from justice and persons 
escaping from the service of their masters, and, should they 
think proper, to report a bill. They reported a bill, 20th 
December, which on the 28th was recommitted, Messrs. 
Taylor and Sherman being added to the committee, who 
reported a bill which was passed 18th January and sent to 
the House for concurrence, was passed by the House Feb- 
ruary 5th, and approved by the President February 14th. 
— United States Senate Journals, vol. i. pp. 465-468, 470, 
472, 479, 482, 483, 486. 

Besides this act respecting fugitives from justice, etc., the 



542 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 

principal ones passed this session were, "acts supplementary 
to the acts establishing a mint," and " providing means of 
intercourse with foreign nations," and acts " regulating 
foreign coins," " for enrolling and licensing vessels in the 
coasting trade," to " promote the progress of useful arts," 
to " regulate trade and intercourse with the Indian tribes," 
and an act in addition to the act " to establish the United 
States Courts." — United States Senate Journals, vol, i. p. 506, 
Appendix. 

Colonel Bedford had been again chosen an elector of 
President and Vice-President of the United States. Mr. 
Read, feeling it to be his duty to bear testimony against the 
misrepresentations of the conduct of John Adams in the 
chair of the Senate, widely circulated to defeat his re-elec- 
tion to the Vice-Presidency, wrote the following letter, ex- 
pressing his high opinion of the abilities and integrity of 
that patriot : 

"Philadelphia, 30th November, 1792. 

"Dear Sir, — Recollecting that on Wednesday next you 
meet your two colleagues as electors of President and Vice- 
President of the United States, I have supposed that you 
would expect some information from me respecting Mr. 
Adams, the present Vice-President, as to his conduct in the 
chair of the Senate of the United States, since so much 
pains has been taken in the pubHc prints of the present 
year to raise a general prejudice against him, in expectation 
of preventing his re-election. 

" It is but a piece of justice, due to Mr, Adams, for me 
to say that as chairman of the House of Congress of which 
I am a member from the Delaware State, his conduct, at 
all times since his being placed there, liath appeared to me 
attentive, upright, fair, and unexceptionable, and his attend- 
ance at the daily meetings of the Senate uncommonly exact. 
As to his having abilities equal to that station, none of his 
detractors insinuate a want thereof, and anything on that 
head from me must be unnecessary, — his various political 
publications sufficiently evidence such ability. 

"With respect to the objections to him which I have 
heard or seen on paper, they principally existed previously 
to his former election, at which you well know his popu- 
larity was such as to induce a portion of electors in each 
State to throw away their votes (but not to be done now 



OF GEORGE BEAD. 543 

by those who wish his re-election), by applying them to 
names, not with a view to their return, but in order to secure 
the rresidency to General Washington. The present change 
of sentiment, therefore, with respect to Mr. Adams is not 
easy to be accounted for at a distance from the central 
scene. I have supposed the clamor raised against Mr. 
Adams to have proceeded from a personal dislike of an in- 
dividual, contracted, perhaps, before the adoption of the 
present Federal system, as well as from the general jealousy 
that such of the Southern States as are most interested in 
the tuture seat of the Federal government entertain of the 
possibility or probability of its being changed through the 
influence of an Eastern character in high station. 

" Some pretend an opinion that a rotation in office is a 
salutary thing in republican governments; but this has 
always appeared to me an insincere reason urged by those 
who use it; but this, perhaps, because my sentiments have 
been, at all times, uniformly otherwise : to wit, that when 
a fit character hath been selected for office, either by the 
people or by their executive authority, and he discovers 
such fitness by an able discharge of duty for a time, such 
person hath a reasonable claim to an after-continuance in 
office, and I consider it as conducing to the interest of the 
community for whom such officer acts, by means of the im- 
proved knowledge of the duties of office which he acquires. 

" You may be assured that what I have before said as to 
Mr. Adams hath not proceeded from any intimacy subsist- 
ing between us, for in the three past years I have not been 
so many times in his residence, exclusive of the compli- 
mentary visit at the commencement of each session. 

" I am, etc., 

" George Read. 

" Gunning Bedford, Esquire, New Castle, Delaware." 

On the 13th of February, 1792, the votes for President 
and Vice-President were opened by the President of the 
Senate, in presence of both Houses, and counted, when it 
was ascertained and declared that George Washington was 
unanimously elected President, and John Adams (by a 
plurality of votes) Vice-President of the United States. 
Tlie three votes of Delaware w^ere cast for both. 

This session is memorable for an assault in the House of 



544 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 

Representatives, acrimonious and violent, upon tlio Secre- 
tary of the Treasury. At the last session of Congress acts 
were passed authorizing the borrowing of twelve millions 
abroad, to be applied in payment of the foreign debt of the 
United States, and two millions to be applied to pay their 
domestic debt. The French government was desired to 
settle a rule by which moneys paid them by the United 
States should be received and credited, and the French 
minister to the United States expressed the wish that part 
of their debt to France should be paid in provisions, to be 
sent to St. Domingo, where the slaves w^ere in a state of 
insurrection, and a decree of the National Assembly was 
necessary to authorize this payment. The disordered state 
of public affairs in France delayed this rule and decree, 
and therefore the payment of her debt, for which Mr. 
Hamilton was unjustly blamed. The money abroad ap- 
plicable to it, lying idle, he drew it home and applied it to 
the purchase of the domestic debt, to great advantage, as 
it bore then a low price in market, while foreign capital 
was pouring into the United States to purchase it. By 
this operation a double benefit resulted, — the extinguish- 
ment, on favorable terms, of a large amount of domestic 
debt, and an increase of its price by the United States 
coming into market to buy it, which enabled the holders 
to sell it at a better rate, and to foreigners, than they 
otherwise could have done. The Secretary of the Treasury 
also complied with the repeated and urgent request of the 
French minister to pay the French debt, in part, by pro- 
visions exported from the United States to St. Domingo, 
— to the manifest advantage of our producers, and honor- 
able to the people, being evidence of their gratitude for the 
French alliance, — a decree of the National Convention, 
which took the place of the National Assembly, having 
authorized it. These operations were so manifestly for the 
public benefit that the resolutions of Mr. Giles, censuring 
them, were rejected by a large majority, it being also plain 
that the Secretary of the Treasury, though he had tran- 
scended these acts of Congress, had acted in the exercise of 
a sound discretion, believing it for the national advantage, 
under circumstances unforeseen by Congress when it passed 
these acts, and therefore unprovided for. Some weight 
ought to be conceded to the objection that it was danger- 



OF GEORGE READ. 545 

ous to sanction the assumption by an executive officer of 
legislative po^yer ; but we can hardly censure him for hay- 
ing forgotten for a moment the respect and courtesy it is 
always convenient and decent for the departments of gov- 
ernuKnit to maintain in their intercourse with each other, 
because it was in the excitement of honest indignation at 
the false and untenable charge of not having accounted for 
a larse sum of public money. 

Congress adjourned on the second day of March, l79o. 

Mr. Dickinson having received some choice wine, and 
wishing his old friend to partake, sent him a portion of it. 
They both probably received as a truth the aphorism that 
" wine, poison to the young, is the milk of old men." His 
gift was accompanied with this letter : 

" My dear Friend,— I have lately received a gross of 
the best claret I have had these fifteen years, and as I 
think such a wine very good for such constitutions as ours, 
I beg thy acceptance of a part. 

" I am thy truly affectionate friend, 

"John Dickinson. 

"Wilmington, March 19th, 1793. 
" George Read, Esquire, New Castle." 

In the year 1792 the people of Delaware, by a convention* 
they had^luly elected, adopted a constitution to supersede 
that of 1776. It is only necessary for me, in connection 
with an important event in the life of Mr. Read, to notice, 
in part, the article of this instrument relating to the judicial 
power thereby established, which was vested in a court of 
chancery, orphans' and registers' courts, supreme court, and 
court of common pleas, of concurrent jurisdiction through- 
out the State in civil cases, each to consist of a chief justice 
and two or three associates, the former to be justices of 
oyer and terminer, and the latter to constitute the court of 
quarter sessions. One defect of this system was its cum- 
brousness r.nd useless expense, two courts of concurrent 
civil jurisdiction being unnecessary in so small a State as 
Delaware : the reason "alleged for which was that otherwise 



* The most prominent members of this convention were John Dick- 
inson, Kensev Johns, Kichard liassett. and Nicholas llidgley. This 
constitution was superseded in 1832 by the existing one. 



546 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 

a court of appeals (which was provided for) could not be 
constituted. Another defect was that these judges were 
not required to be lawyers,* and therefore it might happen 
(and did happen) that the associates would either exercise 
the high functions of judges without being qualified, or be 
mere ciphers. 

The office of governor of Delaware was then filled by a 
gentleman who was a physician by profession. He was 
the father of the eminent lawyer, Thomas Clayton, lately 
deceased, who served in the House of Representatives and 
Senate of the United States, and had been Attorney-Gen- 
eral and Chief Justice of Delaware. Governor Clayton ap- 
pears by the following letter to have been laudably anxious 
to appoint proper persons to the judgeships it was now his 
duty to fill. He had solicited Mr. Read's acceptance of 
either of the chief justiceships of the supreme court or 
common pleas, or of the chancellorship, and repeats this 
solicitation in this letter written from 

"Back Creek, July 21st, 1793. 

'' Dear Sir, — I take the liberty again to solicit your ac- 
ceptance of the chief justiceship of either of the courts, or 
of the chancellorship of this State. I am persuaded, sir, no 
man among us can give such general satisfaction, or render 
such essential services to the public, as you can in any of 
these stations ; these considerations make me very anxious 
for your acceptance. If, on consideration of the subject, you 
should think it will be convenient to you to take any of 
these appointments, you will please name the one that will 
be most agreeable to you ; but if you decide otherwise 
(which I hope you may not), I shall also thank you to in- 
form me, that early application may be made to others. 

" I am, sir, with every sentiment of respect, your most 
obedient servant, 

"J. Clayton. 

" The Honorable George Read." 

* But it was always understood that the convention intended and 
expected the chief justices should be lawyers, and such was the belief 
of the Legislature which established their salaries, — shown by the dif- 
ference in regard to the amounts of them. Yet the successor of Judge 
Bassett, the first chief justice of the court of common pleas, was not 
a lawyer. The present constitution substituting for the two courts 
above mentioned, one, consisting of a chief justice and three associ- 
ates, requires them all to be lawyers. 



OF GEORGE READ. 547 

To this letter Mr. Read replied : 

"August 20th, 1193. 

" SiR^ — The especial manner in which you were pleased, 
in your letter to nie of the 21st ult., to press upon me the 
reconsideration of your former offer of the chief justiceship 
of either of the two law courts, or of the chancellorship of 
this State, with your opinion of a capacity on my part to 
render useful services to the public in any of those stations, 
was not only very flattering to me, but I assure you hath 
been a strong inducement with me to give up a resolution 
I had taken to avoid as much as I reasonably might all 
public duties that would require great attention and much 
exercise of the mental faculties. The station in which the 
Legislature of the State had been pleased to place me for 
the four years past, and continuing for near four years to 
come, of their representative in the Senate of the United 
States, was and is more eligible in my view, as well on ac- 
count of a less continued exertion of the mind, as in point 
of importance in society; but, sir, after much conflict of 
opinion and solicitations from a variety of respectable per- 
sons, who souiehow were informed or got to know that I was 
in your contemplation as one of the persons intended to fill 
a seat in one of the courts established by the present consti- 
tution of the State, I have at length determined to accept 
of the chief justiceship of the supreme court, under the idea 
that it may be the one of the three judgeships that, consist- 
ently with my ability of body at rather an advanced period 
of life, I may probably be most useful in ; though I assure 
you that I doubt its business will accumulate in a short 
time, so as to make the attention to its determination a very 
burdensome duty, most likely beyond my ability to go 
through with : and when it shall so happen, I hope I may 
without censure retire. 

"The annual compensation which the Legislature of the 
State made at their last session I consider as inadequate to 
the service to be performed by a first judge in either of 
those two law courts ; therefore, as well in duty to myself 
as any that may succeed therein, I make the declaration 
now, that I may not be thought concluded from asking for 
an increase of allowance futurely. Certainly if a person 
possessing professional knowledge, acquired by much appli- 



548 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 

cation of time and considerable expense, doth employ that 
solely to the use of the public, that public should at least 
allow him therefor his usual annual expenditures, which 
the one thousand dollars will not be equal to, for my an- 
nual average expenses of the thirty past years of my life 
hath exceeded that sum; and I have not heretofore con- 
sidered myself as unnecessarily expensive, but rather other- 
wise, — however true it is that from several other circum- 
stances, among which was my having engaged in too much 
public State duty, and of course sacrificing much of my time 
therein, that the property I now possess will not admit of 
my dependence thereon, with the addition of the one thou- 
sand dollars per annum, for a sole future support for me and 
those dependent upon me ; and on my acceptance of the 
proposed ofhce I am restrained from the means of other 
acquisition, in the only way in which I could have a chance 
of so doing. And while I am on this part of the subject, 
permit me to suggest to you the opinion that was had at 
the first planning of the draft of that part of the present 
State constitution prescribing the number of judges in the 
two law courts, — to wit, that three would be sufficient at all 
times, and more within the ability of the State to provide 
for than a greater number ; but it being evident from former 
habit and experience that one judge of each court must 
always reside in each county, thence, in case of a vacancy 
of the chief justiceship, the Executive would be confined in 
his choice to a person who either then was, or would on 
appointment to such vacancy become, a resident of such 
county; and therefore it was that the expressions, as finally 
adopted in the third and fourth sections of the sixth article 
of that constitution, were introduced, — to wit, that the 
judges of those courts ''he not feioer than three nor more than 
^16?',' with an expectation that the fourth place would only 
be filled from such an existing necessity as before men- 
tioned. I am well satisfied that the convention at framing 
those sections had it only in expect'ition that the first seat 
in those two law courts should be filled by real professional 
characters in the first instance ; and such evidently was the 
idea entertained by the State Legislature since, from the 
difference they made in the annual salaries, and such will 
probably be the case ; and if so, a fourth judge, without pro- 
fessional knowledge, may be considered like unto a fifth 
wheel to a coach. 



OF GEORGE READ. 549 

"Among other things that suggested themselves to my 
mind as to my acceptance of the seat in the supreme court 
was that of its being presently filled by Mr. Killen, a pro- 
fessional man, for a long time, in whose original appointment 
I had concurred ; as one of the three electors under the old 
constitution of this State, I felt a compunction in con- 
tributing perhaps to his removal therefrotn. You, sir, may, 
in some future communication with him, represent this in 
such a manner as to secure me from plausible censure by 
him, which I leave to your own better opinion. 

"I shall make out my resignation of my seat in the 
United States Senate in due time, previous to the 1st of 
October, with its duplicate, the original to be delivered to 
you, and the other I shall transmit to the secretary of the 
Senate, at Philadelphia, to do away with the disqualifi- 
cation created by the present constitution of this State. 
" I am, with great respect, your obedient servant, 

"George Head. 

"Governor Clayton." 

To the foregoing letter Governor Clayton immediately 
replied, expressing his satisfaction with Mr. Read's decision 
upon his offer : 

" Dear Sir, — It was with great pleasure 1 was informed 
by Mr. George Read, Jr., upon his visit to me with Judge 
Paca, that you had consented to accept the chief justiceship 
of the supreme court. 

" I have wished to have a communication with you with 
respect to your associates, as I assure you my intention is 
to make you as comfortable as possible, and not to vex you 
with any troublesome colleague. My present illness pre- 
vents me from waiting on you at New Castle, although I 
hope to have that pleasure before it becomes necessary to 
make the appointments. I will mention those characters 
who have been thought of for those appointments, and I 
wish to be guided by you (who must be a better judge than 
myself) which of tl em should be the men. In Kent County 
there seems to be ouly three men to choose from, — viz., Mr. 
Thomas White, Mr. James Bellach, and my brother John 
Clayton ; in Sussex County, there are three or four,— viz., 
Mr. Peter Robinson, Mr. Daniel Rodney, Mr. Wells, and 
Judge Jones. 



550 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 

'• I am also at some loss with respect to the clerks of that 
court. The man now in office in Kent is a drunken, low 
fellow, and must be removed, and I do not know any 
other- person who has capacity and sufficient knowledge of 
the business. There are some young men who could learn 
the dihies, but in the mean time I fear their want of 
knowledge would give you trouble. Tn Sussex County, 
Colonel Hall, who is now the clerk, I believe does not want 
abilities ; but he is very inattentive, and it seems to be the 
wish of that county he should be removed and that a Mr. 
Hazard should be appointed. Mr. Hazard seems a gentle- 
manly, sensible young man, and has for some time past 
acted as a deputy-sheriff, and some gentlemen with whom I 
have conversed seemed to think he would do very well. I 
also wished to have advised with you on the propriety of 
filling the courts, or only appointing three to each of them. 
Bassett yet hesitates ; I do not know what to make of him, 
or whether I may depend on his acceptance or not. Per- 
haps he may speak decisively to you. I shall thank you to 
mention tjie matter to him, and inform me of the result, if 
your leisure will permit you to write me a line in answer. 
There are many other things I want your advice about, but 
I must reserve them until I can have a personal interview 
with you. 

" I am, with sentiments of the most perfect respect and 
esteem, your most obedient and humble servant, 

"J. Clayton. 

"August 22d, 1793. 

"P.S. — If there are any other gentlemen in the counties 
within your knowledge better fitted for associate judges 
than those named, please to mention them. J. C. 

"The Honorable George Read, Esquire." 

On the 18th daj^ of September, 1793, Mr. Eead resigned his 
United States senatorship, and thereby qualified himself to 
accept the high and responsible office to which he had been 
appointed in a way very honorable and tlattering to him. 

On the same day Mr. Dickinson wrote him upon some of 
his private business, in regard to which it was his habit to 
consult Mr. Read, and concludes, "My hand is mending, as 
the doctor thinks, but is very distressing. Let this still 
severe affliction be admitted as an excuse for this scrawl 



OF GEORGE READ. 551 

from thy always affectionate friend, John Dickinson. Wil- 
mington, September 18th, 1793." 

The benutilul island bearing the names of" Ilayti," " St. 
Domingo," and '' Ilispaniola," was discovered by Columbus. 
The French buccaneers, about the middle of the seven- 
teenth century, visiting this island, at first to waste in wild 
revelry the fruits of their accursed piracies, remained, and 
they, or other Frenchmen attracted to them, at length de- 
voted themselves to agriculture. By the treaty of Ryswick 
the western moiety of this island was ceded to the French. 
Its connnerce, unfettered by the exclusive privileges of com- 
mercial companies, soon flourished. Its face was picturesque 
and romantic in a high degree. The extensive savannas 
near the ocean, so gentle and unruffled that the Spaniards 
called it "//ze ladies sea," as they receded from the coast, 
swelled into hills, and, in the interior, to the altitude of 
mountains, one range of them, the "Cibas," crossing the 
island from east to west. Between these mountains are 
cool and shaded valleys, delighting the eye by the affluence 
and beauty of vegetable production, in which nature de- 
lights in tropical regions. The oak, the lignum-vitse, the 
satin-wood, and the mahogany were conspicuous, which, 
while they astonished by their giant size, were eagerly 
sought for as dye-woods, for furniture, and ship-building, 
and therefore were valuable in commerce. The little rills, 
ordinarily like silver threads, along the precipitous sides of 
the mountains, when the tropical rains descended like a 
deluge, rushed to the vales wild and magnificent torrents, 
or thundered down the steeps grand water-falls. The 
mountain-sides, the valleys, and groves were resplendent 
with liowers of gorgeous hues and overpowering fragrance; 
and birds of the most beautiful plumage, rivalling the 
flowers in hue, and vicing with the topaz, the ruby, and 
the emerald in tint and lustre. The productions of its soil, 
of inexhaustible fertility, were those most valued and 
sought by merchants, — indigo, cotton, cocoa, vanilla, the 
sugar-cane, and coffee-tree. The fruits, various and delicious, 
furnished the most magnificent desserts in the world ; while 
the climate of the interior mountain-region was in delight- 
ful contrast to the fierce heat of the plains. The planters, 
raised to opulence by the high prices of their crops, soon 
superadded to comforts luxuries and the embellishments of 



552 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 

refinement, and their intercourse had there, as everywhere, 
the characteristics which charm in French society. I hope, 
from their national temperament, they were humane mas- 
ters,, but cannot forget that the high prices of their produce 
were dangerous temptations to overwork the negroes in the 
coffee-fields and " ingenios." If the term can be applied to 
any part of this globe blighted since the fall of man by the 
awful malediction of God, the French portion of St. Do- 
mingo was a paradise. But, alas ! the wild theories of the 
mad revolutionists of France, after desolating that fair 
monarchy, diffused their poison. The Jacobin propagand- 
ists found their way to Hispaniola. With them it was 
enough that equality was the right of all; they never 
paused to ask wliether there was that fitness for it without 
which it was no boon. The rights of man, proclaimed by 
Jacobin emissaries, the mulattoes were not backward to 
demand, and the whites would not yield, and civil war was 
the consequence. The negroes rose against both, and the 
plantations, embellished by wealth, guided by taste, — the 
abodes of families virtuous, intelligent, and polished, — were 
desolated by murder, fire, and atrocities so horrible that we 
cannot tolerate even the thought of them. The survivors 
of these unhappy families escaped to the ports of the island, 
but the emancipation of the slaves having been proclaimed 
by the insane commissioners of the " National Assembly," 
whose advent was more fraught with calamity than the 
hurricane or the plague, flight from the island could alone 
save them from destruction. Many escaped to the United 
States. There they found sympathy and charity; and some, 
with the mercurial temperament and facility of adaptation 
to circumstances characteristic of their race, rising from 
their crushing calamity, turned to account the accomplish- 
ments which had embellished their prosperity, and earned 
their bread as teachers of drawing, music, and dancing. 
Some of these unhapp}^ fugitives found their way to New 
Castle ; and they seem to have been without resource, and 
therefore cast upon the charity of this town. Two of the 
ladies petitioned General Washington for aid. Discharging 
ever the high duties of his public stations, he never neglected 
those pertaining to him as a man. While his heart and 
hand were open to the appeals of suffering humanity always, 
he never forgot that he was God's almoner, bound not to 



OF GEOTiGE READ. 553 

waste upon impostors his bounty, which he held in trust 
for liis poor. He therefore wrote as follows to Mr. Read : 

"Philadelphia, 26th December, 1793. 
" Dear Sir,— Two of the unhappy female fugitives from 
St. Domingo have (as you will see by the inclosed letter) 
laid their distresses before me, which, if true in the degree 
they have stated, merit much commiseration. But I have 
received so many applications of a similar nature, and some 
of them from impostors, that I find it necessary to guard 
what little relief I am able to afford against imposition. 
For this reason, and because I am not well acquainted with 
any other geptleman in New Castle from whence the letters 
come, I have taken the liberty of putting my answer to 
them under cover to you, open, that if on inquiry the 
authors are found to merit relief, it may be sealed and 
handed to them. If, on the other hand, their statement 
should prove a fictitious tale, the inclosure may be returned 

to me. , 

"I will make no apology for giving you this trouble, 
because to be employed in acts of humanity cannot, 1 am 
sure, be disagreeable to such a character as yours. 

"With very great esteem and regard I am, dear sir, your 

most obedient servant, 

"George Washington. 

"The Honorable Mr. Read." 

To this letter Mr. Read replied from 

"New Castle, 4th January, 1794. 

'« Sir, As the two fugitive ladies from St. Domingo who 

had addressed [to you] the two letters, which I now return 
in this inclosure, lived very retired from their coming into 
this place, I heard nothing more of their situation than the 
report of three of the inhabitants, acting as a committee to 
inquire into the situation and wants of the French strangers 
that had taken temporary residence among us, by which it 
ai)peared they were well-bred women, who spoke of possess- 
ing real property in the district of Jeremie, and that they 
had for some time expected the arrival of a considerable 
(quantity of coffee, part of its produce, and which was ready 
for shipping when they left the island ; and that they ex- 

36 



554 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 

pressed' a desire to obtain a loan or advance of moneys on 
the credit of their property, but declined to make known 
their particular wants, or to accept any part of the provision 
that had been directed to be made for distressed French 
fugitives who might come among us. As I do not speak 
their language, I had not paid them any personal visit until 
after I received your favor of the 26th ult., when making 
every inquiry within my power as to their character, situ- 
ation, and circumstances, tlie result is that I am induced to 
believe they are such persons as they represent themselves 
in their inclosed letters, and further that their family con- 
nections have been among the most respectable of St. Do- 
mingo. Under this impression I delivered your letter ad- 
dressed to them, with its particular contents, and they 
expressed much satisfaction at the receiving of it. I have 
hopes that the Legislature of this State, to be in session in 
the next week, will provide further relief than what can be 
obtained from the contributions of a few. There are several 
other wanting fugitives in our town, and the burden of 
supplying them is borne by a few. 

" It will afford me pleasure at all times to carry into exe- 
cution your wishes, more especially on occasions similar to 
the present one. 

" With the utmost esteem and respect I am, sir, your 
most obedient and very humble servant, 

"George Read. 

"To the President of the United States." 

The names of these unfortunate ladies were Laurent de 
Saxy and Laurent de Verneuil. One, perhaps both, were 
in New Castle in the following year. I find among Mr. 
Read's papers a letter from Madame de Saxy, written 26th 
August, 1794, in a style which shows her to have been well 
educated and refined, addressed to him, imploring relief, 
and describing in moving terms the " affreuse situation" of 
herself and family; having in charge four children, sick 
with fever, without money or food, and if compelled to pass 
the winter in New Castle, as she feared (return to St. Do- 
mingo being impossible), with the prospect of wanting, in 
that " saison rigoureuse," clothes and fuel, as well as bread. 
It is by a single case of a great calamity, distinctly pre- 
sented, that we gain a true and lively idea of it. Of this 



OF GEORGE BEAD. 555 

lady Mr. Read's papers furnish no further information, I 
hope the prayer which ends her letter, that heaven would 
yet put it into her power to testify her gratitude for his 
kindness, was answered. 

Mr. Jefferson wrote thus to one of his correspondents, 
July 14th, 1793: "The situation of the St. Domingo fugi- 
tives (aristocrats as they are) calls aloud for pity and 
charity. Never w^as so deep a tragedy presented to tlie feel- 
ings of man. I deny the power of the general government 
to apply money to such a purpose, but I deny it with a 
bleeding heart." — Jefferson s Writhn/s, vol. iv. p. 20, 

Three thousand of the fugitives from St, Domingo were 
landed in Baltimore ; many of them women without their 
husbands, and children without their parents. The citizens 
of Baltimore immediately contributed largely for their re- 
lief, and so did the State of Maryland for a limited time. The 
French minister, Genet, gave, from his private purse, two 
thousand dollars to these sufferers, but excluded aristocrats, 
if any such should be among them, from this bounty. The 
committee of the Maryland Legislature appointed (o dis- 
tribute their gift among these fugitives, petitioned Congress 
to appropriate money for their relief. The question of the 
constitutionality of this appropriation was debated in the 
United States House of Representatives on the 10th and 
28th days of January, 1794, — the strict constructionists 
denying the power to so appropriate because there was no 
provision authorizing it in the Constitution of the United 
States, while the advocates for this power being in the 
Federal Legislature urged that it was granted under the 
power "to provide for the general welfare," and was justi- 
fied by precedents, and especially was proper in the case of 
citizens of France, our former ally and benefactor. Mr. 
Madison suggested that if the appropriation should be made 
the President of the United States be requested to obtain, 
if possible, credit for it in the accounts of the United States 
with France, and the Speaker — as I sui)po.se a compromise, 
after the debates — proposed this suggestion by way of amend- 
ment, which was adopted, and a bill passed according!}' ap- 
propriating the sum of ten thousand dollars for the sujiport 
of such inhabitants of St. Domingo, within the United States, 
as might need it. The Senate was less embarrassed by 
constitutional scruples, which, if always yielded to, would 



556 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 

nave made the administration of the government difficult. 
Tliey passed the bill, but amended by increasing the appro- 
priation to fifteen thousand dollars, and by striking out the 
paltry provision that credit for it should be sought against 
the debt of the United States to the French Republic* 

A State may, by its fundamental law, inhibit itself from 
all acts of benevolence to foreigners forced by calamity to 
seek for refuge within her territory, but must deserve, and 
probably experience the like inhumanity, and in so far ex- 
cludes itself from the brotherhood of nations. An inhibi- 
tion like this, it seems to me, is not to be admitted unless 
positive enactment be shown for it, or it can be deduced 
from such enactment. The strict constructionist in this 
case, it appears to me, can do neither ; but, on the contrary, 
the power of Congress to bestow charity in this case, though 
not expressl}^ granted, may be inferred from provisions of 
the Constitution. 

Mr. Read's friends regretted his withdrawal from the 
Senate, where his services, always valuable, were at this 
time, in their opinion, especially so. One of these friends 
wrote to him from 

"Philadelphia, January 2d, 1794. 

" My dear Sir, — With many others, I do most sincerely 
regret the vacation of your seat in the Senate. Pray send 
us in your room, and as soon as possible, a man of an 
honest heart and a sound head, — such have at no time, you 
may be assured, been more necessary than at the present 
most critical moment. The man you send us may decide our 
fate. 

" Pray make us a visit in the course of the session. And 
believe me to be, with the most cordial friendship and good 
wishes, your obedient and humble servant, 

" Oliver Ellsworth. 

" Honorable Mr. Read." 

* Madison contended that the authority of the United States gov- 
ernment was confined to specific objects, of which charity was not one. 
So Nicholson, and Giles, and Dexter saw weight in this argument ; but 
Murray and Boudinot argued that as the States had surrendered to the 
general government the power to regulate intercourse with foreign 
nations, it belonged to Congress to provide for cases like this. — Hil- 
dretlVs History of the United States, vol. i. p. 479; Benton's Ahridg- 
ment of the Debates of the Congress of the United States, vol. i. pp. 
447, 462, 474. 



OF GEORGE READ. 557 

This letter was inclosed in the one which follows from 
Richard Bassett, who had also left the United States Sen- 
ate, having; been appointed Chief Justice of the Court of 
Common Pleas in Delaware, and accepted tliis appointment. 

"Red Lion,* January 3d, 1194. 

" Dear Sir, — Inclosed is a letter from our old friend 
Ellsworth. I have been up with my children to the city, 
and am now on \ny return. Some of our friends in the 
Senate feel sensibly the want of ^^our aid. Poor Izard is, I 
assure you, truly a distressed man, and thou;^h I feel much 
for his situation, 3'et a deo;ree of levity, in spite of every- 
thing, arose in m}^ mind while he painted his and our other 
friends' present difficulties : yo\i know the man. They wish 
much your place to be filled as speedily as possible with 
the best man we can get, and indeed I am, from the short 
interview I have had with many of the well disposed, of 
opinion it is necessary we should exert ourselves a little to 
send forward speedily our man, if possible. Pray have some 
communication with Grantham, and others who you can 
converse with upon the subject. 

"My respects to Mrs. Read. I am, sir, with great re- 
spect, yours affectionately, 

"Richard Bassett. 

" Excuse hurry, bad ink, pen, and paper. 

" Honorable George Read, New Castle." 

The Legislature of Delaware at their session in January, 
1794, neglected to supply the vacancy in the United States 
Senate caused by the resignation of Mr. Read, wherefore I 
am uninformed. The question was raised whether or not 
the Governor of Delaware could — there having been a ses- 
sion of the Legislature since this resignation — make a tem- 
porary^ appointment to fill this vacancy. He asked Mr. 
Read's opinion upon this question in his letter addressed 
to him 

"10th March, 1194. 

" Dear Sir, — The Legislature at their last sitting having 
neglected to appoint a senator to supply the vacancy in the 
Senate of the United States occasioned by your resignation, 

* A tavern on the State road, seven miles below New Castle. 



558 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 

and it having been represented to me that it would be 
much to the interest of the United States that a represen- 
tation shoukl be had from this State, I some time ago wrote 
to Mr. Booth requesting him to consult you on this sub- 
ject, and to request that you would give your opinion in 
writing, — 'whether the Executive of the State can now 
make a temporary appointment, the Legislature having 
been in session since the vacancy happened.' It may now 
perhaps be said that the session of Congress is so near over 
that the appointment is unnecessary, but I am informed that 
the most of the material business is yet to do, and that 
there is a great probability Congress will continue sitting a 
considerable time ; and if your opinion should be that I 
have the power, I shall be disposed to make the experiment 
whether the Senate would accept a member so appointed. 

" It would seem to me the intention of the Legislature 
should be the pole-star for interpreting the law. The ob- 
vious meaning of the Constitution* certainly is that no 
vacancy should continue in the Senate of the United States, 
and in order that this should always be avoided the Execu- 
tive is vested with authority to fill such vacancy when the 
common mode of election cannot conveniently be had. This 
construction is to be favored because it supports the design 
of the Constitution. On the contrary, if the Legislatures 
should refuse or neglect to appoint the senators, the whole 
system of government might be overthrown. However, I 
wish to be directed in this business by your advice and di- 
rection, and should thank you to favor me with your 
opinion as speedily as possible. 

" I am, with sentiments of great respect, your most 
obedient servant, 

"J. Clayton. 

" The Honorable George Read, Esquire." 

To this letter Mr. Read replied : 

"llth March, 1794. 

" SiR^ — Your letter of yesterday came to me this morn- 
ing by the under-sheriff Aiken, upon the subject whereof I 

* " If vacancies happen by resignation, or otherwise (in the United 
States Senate), during the recess of the Legislature of any State, the 
executive thereof may make temporary appointments until the next 
meeting of the Legislature, which shall then fill such vacancies." — 
Constitution of the United States, art. i. sec. 3. 



OF GEORGE READ. 559 

had a written application addressed to me, in my official 
character as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, by Mr. 
Secretary Booth, on the 1st inst., wherein he mentions vour 
desire that he should obtain my opinion thereon in writing. 
The following day I called upon Mr. Booth to know if he 
considered the application [to be] to me, in my official 
capacity, according to the address of his letter, and he 
answered in the affirmative, for that he so understood your 
directions to him. I then informed him of m}^ doubts of 
the propriety of my giving a legal opinion on a subject of 
any sort, and particularly on the one then proposed, for 
that it was possible, though I admitted not very probable, 
the question might come before me judicially hereafter; and 
that if the application to me was grounded on the tenth 
section in the third article in the Constitution of this State, 
the provision in that section would not warrant my so doing, 
for that the expressions there confine the power of calling 
for information to the officers of the executive department. 
Now the Constitution contemplates three distinct bodies or 
powers to execute the system, in most cases totally inde- 
pendent of each other, — to wit, the legislative power, com- 
posed of two branches of the representatives of the people ; 
supreme executive power, to be vested in a governor, also 
to be chosen by the people; and a judiciary power, vested 
in certain courts, to be filled with a chancellor and six other 
judges, to be commissioned by the executive aforesaid during 
good behavior — that when so organized they were, for all 
the principal purposes of their constitution, separate and 
distinct, and severally answerable. Under this impression 
of the construction of the general system, and that in the 
expressions ' the officers in the executive department' in the 
said section the judiciary was not included, it was that I 
doubted of the propriety of my complying with the Secre- 
tary's application. 

"That the P]n2;lish historv afi'ords two strikins; instances 
ot the severe censure upon those of the judiciary of that 
nation (which is very similar in its institution to that of 
the judiciary of this State) for extra-judicial opinions ob- 
tained from and given by the judges of that country in two 
distant periods, — viz., in the reign of Richard II., A d. 1389, 
and Charles I., a d. IGoG and 1G40; and unless the system 
of our government was difterent in these respects from that 



560 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 

of England, then these instances serve ^s beacons for the 
judiciary here. That although this was the opinion I then 
entertained of my official duty, I considered myself at lib- 
erty in great cases of public concern, equally affecting every 
free citizen, to converse thereon and express my sentiments ; 
and that such an occasion had occurred since the risins; of 
the State Legislature with Mr. Grantham, one of its mem- 
bers, when I did say to him on the question put that was I 
vested with the executive power of the State upon the 
present occasion, I would not hesitate to exercise the power 
of appointing to the vacancy in the Senate of the United 
States from this State until the next meeting of the State 
Legislature, and should rely upon the political necessity 
of the case as a safe shield of defence for the exercise of 
the power, which appeared sufficient, independent of the 
support of the spirit of the Federal system. And I further 
informed Mr. Booth that I had that morning, from a friendly 
intention towards you, and as much as might be to relieve 
you from present doubts, stated the case generally, and in- 
closed it to Mr. Vining,* in whose power it might be to 
obtain the best opinions of the efficacy of such an appoint- 
ment and to speedily communicate his information thereon. 
My letter went by Mr. Matthew Pearce, but Mr. Vining 
having left Philadelphia before Pearce got there, had not 
returned when he left it on Sunday last. My letter to 
Vining was left for him, and I have not heard from him 
since. After such conversation with Mr. Booth, he asked 
me if he might communicate the same to you, and he had 
ray assent thereto; and he told Mr. Aiken this morning if 
3'ou had received a letter he had addressed to you, you would 
not have been at the trouble of writing those letters by him. 

"I am fully impressed with the idea that at no time since 
the organization of the Federal government of the United 
States hath this State [more] required an able, active, and 
attentive representative in Congress than at the present 
period, and particularly so on account of its own special 
interest — and from the present state of the business before 
them the present session cannot end speedily. 

" Since I began this I received a letter from Dr. Latimer, 



* Johu Vining had been elected by the Legislature of Delaware 
United States Senator in place of Richard Bassett, resigned. 



OF GEORGE READ. 561 

dated Newport, 7th inst. It appeared therein that he hud 
left Phihidelphhi the 5th, and Cantwell Jones, the bearer, 
met with him on his return the 10th. He tells [me] the 
absence of the Dehiware representation was publicly spoken 
of before he left Philadelphia. 

•' 1 yesterday received a notification from the attorney- 
general that a person of the name of Baynard, being charged 
by the coroner's inquisition of the wilful murder of a negro 
in Kent County, would require the holding of a court of 
oyer and terminer and general [jail] delivery there at a 
short, convenient time, — that the indisposition of Judge 
Clayton did not adnut of his taking order therein, and the 
business was referred to me ; and I am at present so much 
engaged with preparations to attend the spring circuit that 
I am much restricted in time for that purpose, being obliged 
under the late regulation to commence that duty at George- 
town in the first instance, at the distance of eighty-five 
miles, rather than in New Castle, at a very unfavorable 
time for a four days' travel at my age, and more especially 
so as 1 have been laboring under rheumatic or gouty affec- 
tions in all my limbs for six or eight days past. 

" I suspect, sir, you were mistaken when you were pleased 
to say, as an argument that 1 ought to accept a seat in the 
courts of this State, that it would receive the approbation 
of the many, for that those who it was then supposed would 
most approve thereof by report were perhaps most active to 
occasion the regulation, recently made, as the most incon- 
venient to me personally. My hurry therefore presently 
must be my apology for the evident haste in which I write 
this : and I am, with much respect and esteem, yours, 

''George Read. 

"Governor Clayton." 

Governor Clayton came to the conclusion that he was 
empowered to fill the then existing vacancy in the United 
States Senate, and exercised it. On the 24th of March, 
1794, Kensey Johns appeared in that body and produced 
credentials of his appointment. Whereupon it was moved 
that these credentials be referred to the Committee of Elec- 
tions before said Kensey Johns should be permitted to 
qualify, and that committee should report thereon ; which 
motion was carried, — yeas 13, nays 12. This committee 



562 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 

reported 26th March, and their report ordered to lie for 
consideration. It was taken up 27th March, a motion to 
recommit it lost, and postponed till the 28tb of that month, 
when it was further considered, being as follows : 

'' The Committee of Elections report that George Read, a 
senator from Delaware, resigned 18th September, 1793; and 
during the recess of the Legislature of that State, which 
met in January and adjourned in February, 1794 [without 
having appointed a successor to said George Read], upon the 
19th day of March, and subsequent to the adjournment of 
the said Legislature, Kensey Johns was appointed by the 
Governor of Delaw^are to fill the vacancy occasioned by the 
resignation aforesaid ; and thereupon this committee submit 
the following resolution: ^Resolved, That Kensey Johns, 
appointed by the Governor of Delaware a senator of the 
United States for the said State, is not entitled to a seat in 
the Senate of the United States, a session of the Legislature 
of the said State having intervened between the resignation 
of the said George Read and the appointment of the said 
Kensey Johns.' " 

On the question being put to agree to this report, it 
passed in the afhrmative, — yeas : Bradford, Bradley, Brown, 
Burr, Butler, Cabot, Edwards, Ellsworth, Frelinghuysen, 
Gunn, Hawkins, Jackson, King, Langdon, Livermore, Mar- 
tin, Mitchell, Monroe, Robinson, Taylor, — 20. Nays: Foster, 
Izard, Morris, Potts, Rutherford, Strong, Vining, — 7.* — 

* "In no case except this has the attempt been made by any executive 
to appoint, after the Legislature had been in session, and declined or 
neglected to fill a vacancy. 

"Three interpretations have been given to the clause of the Consti- 
tution, article i. section 3. The first is that which confines the power 
of appointment, and also the tenure of the executive appointee, until 
the next session of the Legislature, that is, until it is organized, and 
this seems most in accordance with the rational import of the language 
used. The second is, that the language of the Constitution merely 
limits the power of appointment in the executive until the next meeting 
of the Legislature, permitting the duration of the office, under that ap- 
pointment, to be indefinite and dependent only upon the action of the 
Legislature, and the official communication of that action to the Senate. 
[This construction was given by the majority of the committee in the 
case of Phelps, in 1854.] The third limits the power of executive ap- 
pointment to the next meeting of the Legislature, and also limits the 
duration of the office, under the executive appointment, to the clone of 
the legislative session, unless previously terminated by the action of 



OF GEORGE READ. 563 

(Journals of the Senate of the United States, vol. ii. pp. 
53-55, 56, 57.) 

Mr. Read's successor was not a])pointed by the Legisla- 
ture of Delaware till 1795. On the 28th of February of 
that year "The Honorable Henry Latimer appeared in the 
Senate and took his seat, in place of the Honorable George 
Read, resigned." — (Journals of U.S. Senate, vol. ii. p. 177.) 

The Legislature of Delaware, in determining, in 1793, as 
they did, the amount of judicial salaries, erred by making 
them too small, but do not stand alone in this mistake, 
which has been made by many of her sister States. This 
mistaken legislation may be ascribed to several causes, 
having more or less intluence, — the despicable demagog- 
ism of men who sought popularity by paring down the ex- 
penses of government to the lowest possible amounts; selfish 
forgetfulness of the golden rule of giving to every man his 
due, in the case of high judicial officers, by legislators who 
would have blushed to have kept back part of the j ust wages of 
their ploughman, their hedger, or their ditcher; and chiefly, 
I am willing to believe, from a false estimate of the value 
of judicial qualifications and services which may affect the 
life, liberty, reputation, and property of every citizen, and 
inattention to the almost universal experience that the 
lucrative practice of the law^ has not been exchanged for 
the seat on the bench, with inadequate salary, and in such 
cases vacancies have been filled by second-rate lawyers 
instead, as they ought to have been by those most distin- 
guished for ability and knowledge. 

Mr. Read accepted the appointment of chief justice, be- 
lieving, and declaring his belief, that the salary of this office 
was insufficient, and with the hope that it would be in- 
creased, and reserving the right to ask from the Legislature 



the Legislature, and the official communication of that action to the 
Senate. This is based upon a well-known legal fiction (that of treating 
the whole session of the Legislature as one day), and has the support 
of one precedent, and of continued practice under it." — Spefch of (he 
Honorable James A. Bayard on the Vermont Seyiatorship, February 1, 
1853, pp. 3, 4, 5, 10. Debates of the first session of the Thirty-third 
Congress, a.d. 1853. 

Mr. IJayard, in his able speech, above quoted from, manifests, per- 
hap.<, an undue fear of the executive power, and underrates the evil of 
vacancies in State representations in tiie United States Senate. 

See Appendix for a notice of Kensey Johns. 



564 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 

its augmentation. After devoting his abilities and legal 
knowledge with exemplary diligence to the discharge of his 
judicial duty for two years, Mr. Read petitioned the Dela- 
ware Legislature, in 1796, for such an increase of his salary 
(in accordance with the intention of the framers of the 
Constitution) as would make it equal to the annual ex- 
penses of himself and family, of which it had fallen short, 
and which expenses had not much, if at all, exceeded those 
of the thirty preceding years. It is proper to add, Mr. 
Read states that he had been told that a reason weighing 
much with the Legislature, when fixing the amount of ju- 
dicial salaries, in 1793, was that the value of the judicial 
system, just adopted, had not been tested by experience, 
and, that it might be so tested, he had delayed his petition 
for two years. The great amount of business in the Su- 
preme Court during these two years, and the diligence of 
its judges in disposing of it, appear from the facts Mr. Read 
states, that actions brought to the next preceding terms 
had been tried and disposed of without prejudice to, or in- 
terfering with, any of the older actions, and that there were 
ninety original writs returnable to its last term. Though 
the committee to whom this petition was referred reported 
favorably upon it, no increase of salary was made by the 
Legislature, and Mr. Read, in 1797, again petitioned for it, 
but with the same result. 

It was especially as a judge that Mr. Read was distin- 
guished ; his dispassionate habits of reasoning, his patience 
in hearing, his deliberation, and the essential requisites of 
profound legal knowledge and deep experience, which he 
possessed, enabled him to discharge the duties of his office 
with honor to himself and advantage to the community. 
When he assumed the office of Chief Justice of the State 
of Delaware, in 1793, there was a peculiar necessity for a 
judge of firmness and ability. The period of the Revolu- 
tion, and that which followed its close, were marked with 
perplexity and confusion. The courts of justice were, in 
some degree, closed, and the master-spirits of the age were 
to be found in the cabinet or the camp. Laws were silent 
amid the din of arms. It is unnecessary to enumerate the 
effects of such confusion upon contracts and upon rights ; 
but the duty of the judge was little less than the reor- 
ganization of a legal system out of chaos. This arduous 



OF GEORGE READ. 565 

dut}' was pcrfoimed by Mr. Read with his usual ability, 
and his decisions are still reverenced in the State of Dela- 
ware as the great land-marks of the judiciary and of the 
profession. That this character of Mr. Read, as a judge, is 
not the mere fancy-sketch of his descendant, biased by his 
partiality for his venerated ancestor, appears by the fol- 
lowing statements. 

Daniel Rodney, formerly associate judge of the Court of 
Common Pleas, Governor of the State of Delaware, and a 
member of the Senate of the United States, in 1844, being 
then in his eightieth year, said to me : 

"James P. Wilson, an eminent lawyer in Delaware, and 
afterwards a distinguished Presbyterian minister, having 
studied law with a gentleman of the same political party 
as Dr. James Tilton, who w^as hostile to Mr. Read, came to 
the bar much prejudiced against him, but, when he had 
practiced two years, he declared to me, ' I consider George 
Read not only the best judge in this State (Delaware), but 
in the United States, for talents, knowledge of law, and 
integrity.' "* 

This remarkable testimony of Daniel Rodney is confirmed 
by another witness, who received from Dr. Wilson the 
statement of his violent prejudice against Mr. Read, and 
the total change of his opinion from observation of his ad- 
ministration of his judicial office. This other witness is 
Mrs. Susan Eckard, daughter of Colonel James Read, of 
Philadelphia, deceased, from whose letter, recently written 
to me, I make the extract on the next page. There is a third 
witness to Dr. Wilson's exalted opinion of Mr. Read as a 
judge, to whom he communicated it, the friend Mrs. Eckard 
mentions, and, though I have not his evidence from himself, 
there is no ground to distrust it. I remark, in fine, that 
these three testimonies have one characteristic of verity, — 
substantial agreement, loith some circumstantial variety. 

* I will not suppress what Daniel Rodney added to this statement, 
viz, that James A. Bayard .said "Judge Read could not decide cases 
out of his little office.""^ His earnest desire to decide rightly may have 
occasionally delayed unduly his decisions, and subjected him to sneering 
remarks like this ; but the fact (stated in his petition to the Legislature 
for increase of salary) of the great amouut of business disposed of in 
his court, in the first years of his service as chief Justice, dissipates 
the suspicion it may excite that there may have been in him con- 
siderable defect of the proper and due promptitude of decision. 



566 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 

"My late venerated pastor, Dr. Wilson, told me that 
^wlien George Read was placed on the bench (Dr. Wilson 
was a lawyer, and a violent Democrat) he lost several 
causes, and said to a man he was sure would repeat, "that, 
now George Read was upon the bench, he should never 
gain a cause." I was completely disarmed by this mild an- 
swer of Mr. Read to my violent remark : " Let Mr. Wilson 
be careful to bring just cases before the court, and he will 
always obtain justice.'" In after-years Dr. Wilson told my 
friend, the late General Winder, 'If I could be certain of 
having such men on the bench as George Read, I would 
dispense with a jury.' When that pious and humble Chris- 
tian, Dr. Wilson, called, on hearing my father was sick, as 
he seated himself by his bedside, he said, 'I come here to 
be instructed, not to teach.' " 

Dr. Wilson was as distinguished as a divine as he had 
been in the profession of the law. Acute and metaphysical, 
he was well suited to teach Christianity in the phase in 
which it was held by the Presbyterians. His unfeigned, 
humble, and ardent piety, and most faithful discharge of 
his pastoral duties, won for him the warm regard and the 
veneration of his people, — the large, wealthy, and most 
respectable first Presbyterian congregation of Philadelphia. 

When more than half a century has elapsed since Mr. 
Read's decease, still another testimony is offered to his char- 
acter as a judge and a man. The writer of the following 
letter, the Honorable Willard Hall, long eminent at the 
Delaware bar, has for many years filled the office of judge 
of the District Court of the United States for the District of 
Delaware with the ability and integrity becoming that high 
station. Judge Hall migrated from New England to Dela- 
ware so soon after Mr. Read's death that he received the 
verdict of his contemporaries upon his character while their 
recollection of him was fresh and unfaded : 

"Wilmington, December 26th, 1857. 

" Dear Sir, — When I settled in this State in 1803, com- 
mencing my professional life, the name most frequently 
mentioned in my hearing as of highest authority in law 
was that of your grandfather. In the estimation of the bar, 
then having among its members Bayard, Rodney, and 
others, his decisions established the law ; of this character 



OF GEOIiGE READ. 567 

they were cited and received. It would give me great 
pleasure if I could communicate any matter tor his life 
which you are writing. Mr. Killen kept no diary of men 
or events, and his papers contain nothing that would be of 
use to you. Having searched them in past 3'ears for im- 
portant vouchers, I have no recollection of seeing anything 
connected with your grandfather, although in speaking of 
him his voice concurred in the universal attestation of the 
high standing of your grandfather as a man and as a judge; 
indeed, his station among men was as elevated for exalted 
moral worth as among lawyers for legal capacity and defer- 
ence. 

"Very respectfully yours, 

"WiLLARD Hall. 
" William T. Read, Esquire." 

On the 21st day of September Mr. Read's long life of 
public usefulness was terminated by a sudden and short 
illness.''' 

We have seen this eminent man distinguishing himself 
at the bar as a lawyer, animating his fellow-citizens against 
oppression as a patriot, taking his seat in the national 
council as a sage, and presiding on the bench as one of the 
judges of the land. In all these lofty stations, exposed to 
the strict scrutiny of the public, that invaluable safeguard 
against abuses of power, no blemish was discovered in his 
conduct. Applause at the bar did not in him generate 
vanity, success in political life ambition, nor the dignity of 
the bench dogmatism. As a lawyer, a patriot, a statesman, 



* He was interred near the eastern wall of Immanuel Church, New 
Castle, Delaware, where his family have worshipped, and in the vicinity 
of which they have been buried for more than a century. His monu- 
ment bears this inscription : 

GEORGE READ, 

Bora September 18///, 1T3"4, 

Pied September 21s/, 1798. 

Member 0/' the Congress of the Revolution, 

the Convention that framed the Constitution of the United States, 

and of the first Senate wider it; 

Judge of Admiralty, 

President and Chief Justice of Delaioare, 

and 

a Signer of the Declaration of Independence. 



568 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 

and a judge, he was alike unpretending, consistent, dig- 
nified, and impartial. His other peculiar characteristics 
were an inflexible integrity of motive, a slow and calm 
deliberation of his subject, a cool determination of purpose, 
and an invincible perseverance in the conclusions of his 
judgment. 

Similar traits were prominent in the course of his private 
life, softened, however, by those social amenities which so 
delightfully relieve the sterner features of the patriot and 
show us the statesman in the husband and the father. His 
manners were dignified, and his dignity may have occasion- 
ally bordered upon austerity. He avoided trifling occu- 
pations, disliked familiarity, and could not tolerate the 
smallest violation of good manners, for which he was him- 
self distinguished. A strict and consistent moralist, he 
granted no indulgence to laxity of principle in others, and 
he was remarkably averse to that qualified dependence 
which an obligation necessarily produces. Notwithstanding 
an exact attention to his expenditure, which he never per- 
mitted to exceed his income, his pecuniary liberality was 
extensive, his style of living simple, but becoming his sta- 
tion, and his hospitality generous, while it was not indis- 
criminate. The friendships which he enjoyed — and they 
were many — were remarkable for warmth and endurance, 
and the love of his relatives for him elevated by reverence. 

In person Mr. Kead was above the middle size, erect and 
dignified in his demeanor, and remarkable for his attention 
to personal arrangements. 

in fine, he was an excellent husband, a good father, son, 
and brother, an indulgent master, an upright judge, a fear- 
less patriot, and a just man. 

Mr. Read, as he informed Governor Clayton (p. 5i7) upon 
his acceptance of the office of Chief Justice, from his having 
sacrificed his time too much to the public service (he meant 
for his own interest) and other circumstances, found him- 
self at a very advanced period of life in possession of a small 
estate, which had not been augmented prior to his decease. 
Soon after it occurred, John Dickinson gave a valuable farm 
to the widow and children of his departed friend, and with 
the deed by which it was conveyed, sent the following 
letter : 



OF GEORGE BEAD. 569 

"My dear Friend, — I desire thee to accept the inclosed 
[deed] as some testimoii}', though an imperfect one, of hijj^h 
esteem for thyself and of affectionate reverence for the 
memory of our beloved friend. 

" I have had an exact survey made of the plantation by 
two surveyors, from which it appears that there are upon 
it upwards of one hundred and eighty acres of woodland. 

''The value of this part is already considerable and in- 
creasing, as the landing at Christiana Bridge is only two 
miles distant, and for the preservation of the wood 1 iiave 
rejected every oflbr that has been made to me for renting 
this place. 

" From accurate calculations, made with judicious per- 
sons, I am persuaded that, under prudent management, at 
least one thousand pounds might be made by the sale of the 
wood, and still enough be left for the use of the farm. 

"The mansion-house is of brick, strongly built, and two 
stories high, with four rooms on a floor. A small sum would 
put that, the kitchen adjoining, — which is also of brick, — 
and the barn and stable, into sufficient repair. Some trees 
planted around would give the whole a handsome appear- 
ance. 

" The soil is favorable for grain ; or if grazing should 
be preferred, every field might be next year turned into 
meadow. 

" I mention these particulars, as they have been ascer- 
tained to me by attention and conversation with experi- 
enced men. 

"With the warmest wishes for the happiness of thyself 
and family, I am thy respectfully affectionate friend, 

"John Dickinson. 

"Wilmington, sixth month 25th, 1799. 

" Mrs. Gertrude Read, New Castle, Delaware." 

Mr. Dickinson further manifested his undying respect for 
Mr. Read's memory and his affection for his family. 

Having been informed that the office of John Read, Es- 
quire, respecting Britisli debts, was about expiring, he 
waited on the President of the United States, and recom- 
mended his continuance in this place. 

Mr. John Read thanked Mr. Dickinson (April 8th. 1802) 
for this act of kindness, '' it having been the happiness of 

37 



570 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 

his father, through his long and useful life, to enjoy his 
friendship, and a great consolation to his family that it had 
survived him." 

Mr. Dickinson thus replied : 

" My dear Friend, — On my return from Kent thy letter 
of the 8th was deceived. 

"The information mentioned in it was true, and I was 
compelled to make the application by reverence for the 
memory of thy beloved father, and by affection for his relict 
and children, who will always be precious to my heart as 
long as it shall continue sensible of anything relating to 
this world. 

" I am, with sincerity, thy friend, 

"John Dickinson.*- 

"Wilmington, the 12th of the fourth month, 1802. 

" John Read, Jr., Esquire, Philadelphia." 

* When I was a mere boy, Mr. Dickinsou was my father's guest for 
a few days, during the trial of a suit in which I think he was defendant, 
my father being his counsel. I have a vivid impression of the man, — 
tall and spare, his hair white as snow, his garb uniting with the severe 

^ simplicity of his sect a neatness and elegance peculiarly in keeping with 
it ; and his manners, beautiful emanations of the great Christian prin- 
ciple of love, with the gentleness and aflfectionateness which, whatever 
be the cause, the Friends, or at least individuals of them, exhibit more 
than others, combining the politeness of a man of the world, familiar 
with society in its most polished forms and with conventional canons 
of behavior. Truly he lives in my memory as the realization of my 

_ beau ideal of a gentleman. 



OF GEORGE READ. 571 



APPENDICES TO CHAPTER VII. 



NOTICE OF KEXSEY JOHNS. 

Kensey Johns was born at West River, Anne Arundel County 
Maryland, on the 14th day of June, a.d. 1759. His ancestor nugra ed 
from" Wales to that province soon after its settlement, and was the 
founder of one of those families who, transmitting their estates for many 
generations from father to son, gave to the gentry of Maryland an envi- 
able superiority in intelligence and refinement, and an element of stability 
to her political institutions. " 

Mr Johns was admitted to the bar of Delaware, and after a practice 
of twelve years appointed an associate judge of the Supreme Court, 
which place he filled until, upon the decease of Chief Justice Read, m 
1798 he succeeded him. Judge Johns presided for thirty-eu^it years 
in the Supreme Court, to the satisfaction of the pub ic, deciding, with 
his colleagues, questions difficult and important, and term after term 
disposing of business great in amount, from the peculiar circumstances 
of the period immediatelv succeeding the Revolution, and such as 
would appall the lawyer in these days of diminished practice^ On the 
death of Chancellor Ridgley, Mr. Johns succeeded him, and held the 
chancellorship until the change of constitution in 1832. I^"*''"^ thi^ 
long period the bar of Delaware was distinguished by ability, knowl- 
ed-e and eloquence. If asked what characterized Mr. Johns as a 
iud"-e I should tinB\\GX,uuhending impartialUy, and as a man, mcjaciiy 
and discretion, which led him to right conclusions in his own affairs 
and made him an admirable adviser for others. He was a member ot 
the Protestant Episcopal Church, and rendered her service m her ves- 
tries and in her diocesan and general conventions. 

With faculties unimpaired almost to the last, in his ninetieth year 
this venerable man, surrounded by bis family, was gathered to his 
fathers, in the confidence of a certain faith and in the comfort ot a 
reasonable religious and holy hope. t i „ ^ff«.r. 

Judge Johns said to me (2Tth August, 1844). " I was, as I have often 
told ySu, a student in your grandfather's office having en ered it in 
1780 His ' Coke-Littleton' was in the old black-letter. When I had 
read "it once, I asked, ' What shall I read next?' ' Read it, said he 
' airain ' I read it the second time and asked, ' What next ?' Read it 
the third time,' said he ; and. perceiving some manifestations of repug- 
nance upon my part, he added, ' for this is the well whence you must 
draw your knowledge of the law.' Having omitted from a very long 
deed on parchment, which I had drawn by Mr. Read's direction, for 



572 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 

one of his clients, a few words, which might have been easily supplied 
by insertion, and which did not affect the instrument, he handed it to 
me, merely saying, 'Write it over again,' which I was obliged to do, at 
the cost of at least two days of hard labor. But," added Judge Johns, 
" he made a lawj^er and a man of me." 

A fellow-student with Judge Johns was Ross Thompson, a youth 
wild and heedless. My father told me that Ross, whenever in the 
course of his studies he encountered a difficulty, walked into the office 
(adjoining the one occupied by the students of Mr. Read) where he 
usually sat, and obtained the solution he ought first to have tried to 
work out for himself. Mr. Read, after bearing for a long time, with his 
accustomed equanimity, this annoyance, one day whfn Ross came, 
book in hand, to put a question, took him by the arm, led him to the 
office of the students and to each of the cases of books around it, which 
he opened, and having pointed to their contents, bowed with great 
politeness to him and left the room. Ross, added my father, felt the 
rebuke, took the hint so significantly given him, and ventured no more 
such questions. 



PORTRAITS OF GEORGE READ. 

There are two portraits extant of George Read. One of these is 
in possession of his grandson, William T. Read, and all that is known 
of its history appears by the following letter, the writer of which, now 
deceased, was a son of George Ross, a signer of the Declaration of 
Independence. 

This picture seems to have been taken when Mr. Read had attained 
middle age. The attitude is graceful, the features fine and very intel- 
lectual, the eyes hazel, and the expression one of mingled benevolence 
and melancholy. Good judges have pronounced it a fine picture, in the 
style of Gilbert Stewart, and his sons and surviving friends considered 
it a good likeness. 

"Lancaster (Penna.), January 18th, 1828. 

"Dear Sir, — Your letter of the 22d December last was delivered to 
me by Mr. Barr, to whom you intrusted it. Mr. McCrone misappre- 
hended me. I did not inform him that I had in mj jwssesiiion the 
portrait, but told him such a picture had been in one of the public inns 
of this place, and to inform some one of George Read's family, if they 
desired, I could procure it. I discovered that a Mr. Armstrong, of this 
city, possessed the picture. He, at my instance, called on me with the 
portrait and agreed to sell it for ten dollars, which sum, after receiving 
your letter, without chaffering about the price, I paid him, and he sent 
to me the picture, and I have since received your letter covering ten 
dollars. 

" Mr. Leonard Eicholtz, at whose house the picture was found, re- 
membered seeing it about ten years ago, when he was [first] in pos- 



OF GEORGE READ. 573 

session of the house lie now lives in, which belonged to his late father. 
It WHS found in a f^arret, among some old and useless furniture. He 
thought it of so little consequence to him that he made use of it to 
hang over a liole cut in one of his chimneys for the introduction of a 
stovepipe, to conceal it. Some time after it was discovered by his 
brother, a limner and portrait-painter, and kept by him in his study, he 
believes, to improve him in his profession, and which he pronounced to 
be a fine painting. He iikewiso discovered, after he had brushed up 
the picture, the name 'George Read' and the word ' Baltimore.'* (By 
a close inspection you mav see them on the left side, near the lower 
part of the i)icture.) Mr. Eicholtz, not knowing who the picture repre- 
sented, or where the person represented was to be found, [after his 
brother left Lancaster] placed it where first discovered. About eighteen 
months after, Mr. Armstrong happened to see and was much pleased 
with it as a fine painting, and regretting that it should occupy so de- 
grading a situation, requested Mr. ?]icholtz to lot him have the picture, 
to which Mr. E., he being an acquaintance for whom he had a particular 
regard, consented, parting with it gratuitously. Hearing accidentally 
that this portrait was in Mr. A.'s possession, last summer I requested 
him, by my son, to call ou me with it, as I thought it the picture of a 
near family connection of mine. He came as requested, and I observed 
the words ' George Read,' ' Baltimore,' and he sold me the picture as I 
have stated. Mr. Eicholtz regrets that he had not the pleasure of 
restoring this picture to the family of George Read, though he is grati- 
fied in having been instrumental in preserving it, and that it is now 
where it should be. With respect to your further queries, ' by whom,' 
and ' when and where,' and ' for whom painted,' I cannot give any 
account. 

" 1 hope you will excuse any inaccuracies in this letter, and attribute 
them to mv age and forgctfuluess, being now in my seventy-sixth year. 
"I am, devotedly, yours and the family's obedient servant, 

" Georqe Ross. 

" To William T. Read, Esquire, Centre Hall, near New Castle, 
Delaware." 

The other portrait, in the possession of the daughter of the late Mr. 
William Read, of Philadelphia, was painted by Robert Edge Pine. It 
was considered by Mr. Read's family to have an expression of stern- 
ness not his. His daughter, Mrs. 'Pearce, when she first saw this 
picture, exclaimed, "Take away that Saracen's head !" The following 
letter contains a sufficient account of this portrait: 

"New Castle, May 30th, 1792. 

" Madam, My son will wait upon you and advise as to the finishing 

of my portrait, if necessary, and then receive it. I have transmitted 
Mr. Pine's receipt for the' fifty dollars paid in 1785, and have given 
directions for the payment of fhe remaining six, equal to twenty-seven 
shillings sterling. I was guilty of great omission in not seeing you 
before I left Philadelphia, in the beginning of this month, as I had seen 



* On a letter he is represented as holdint 



574 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 

the young ladies, your daughters, on an evening visit to Mrs. Trist, who 
reminded me of the portrait being still with you, and of 5''0ur intention 
to go to Europe ; and I then said I would wait on you ere I departed, 
but a scene of hurry in the conclusion of the public business soon ensued, 
and this promise escaped my memory. I wish you and your family a 
safe and pleasing voyage, and I am, with esteem, 

" Your very humble servant, 

" George Read. 
"Mrs. M. Pine, Philadelphia." 

I am indebted to " Putnam's New Monthly Magazine," of October, 
1855, vol. vi., for the following account of Pine: 

"A few octogenarians in Philadelphia used to speak of a diminutive 
family, the head of which manifested the sensitive temperament, if not 
the highest capabilities, of artistic genius. This was Robert Edge Pine 
[a native of England]. He was considered a superior colorist, and was 
favorably introduced into society there, by his acknowledged sympathy 
for the American cause, and by a grand project, such as was afterwards 
executed by Trumbull, — that of a series of paintings, illustrative of the 
American Revolution, to embrace original portraits of the leaders, both 
civil and military, in that achievement, including the statesmen who were 
chiefly instrumental in framing the Constitution and organizing the 
government under it. He brought letters of introduction to the father of 
the late Judge Hopkinson, whose portrait he executed, the vivid tints 
and resemblance to the original of which still attest to his descendants 
the ability of the painter. In the intervals of his business as a teacher 
of drawing and portrait-painter, he collected from time to time a large 
number of heads of distinguished persons. Of these the heads of Gen- 
eral Gates, Charles Carroll, Baron Steuben, and Washington are the best 
know*b and most highly prized. Pine remained three weeks at Mount 
Yernon, and his portrait bequeaths some features of Washington with 
great accuracy. Artists find in it certain merits not discernible in those 
of later date. It has the permanent interest of a representation from 
life by a painter of established reputation, yet its tone is cold and its 
effect unimpressive beside the more bold and glowing creation of 
Stewart's pencil. It has repose and dignity. In his letter to Washing- 
ton, asking his co-operation in the design he meditated, Pine says, ' I 
have been some time at Annapolis, painting the portraits of patriot 
legislators, patriot heroes, and beauties, in order to adorn my large 
pictures ;' and he seems to have commenced his enterprise with sanguine 
hopes of one day accomplishing his object, which it was, however, 
reserved for a native artist to complete. That his appeal to Washing- 
ton was not neglected is, however, evident from an encouraging allusion 
to Pine and his scheme in the correspondence of the former. ' Mr. Pine,' 
he says, ' has met a favorable reception in this country, and may, I con- 
ceive, command as much business as he pleases. He is now preparing 
materials for the historical representation of the most important events 
of the war.' Pine's picture of Washington is in the possession of the 
Hopkinson family of Philadelphia. The fac simile of Washington's 
letter proves that it was taken in 1785. A duplicate was purchased in 
Montreal, in 1817, by the late Henry Brevoort, of New York." 



OF GEORGE READ. 575 

MANSION, MEANS, AND STYLE OP LIVING. 

The mansion of Mr. Read commanded an exten.sive view of the 
river Delaware (of the width of two and a half miles or more), since 
obstructed by the houses erected along the river-front of New Castle. 
So near was his house to the Delaware that when the tide was high 
one wheel of a carriage passing the street in front of it was in the 
water, and in violent storms its waves were dashed against the build- 
ing. This mansion was an old-fashioned brick structure, looking very 
comfortable, but with no pretensions to elegance. It contained a 
spacious hall, on one side of which was a large parlor or drawing-room, 
on the other Mr. Read's office, behind it the dining-room of sufficient 
size, and in its rear a large kitchen. The exten.sive garden ran back to 
the grounds, where were the stables and other out-buildings. The 
garden was kept with great care, for Mrs. Read had both fondness and 
taste for horticulture, and was proud of her profusion of flowers, es- 
pecially her tulips, of great variety and beauty. This mansion was 
burned in the fire which, in 1824, laid in ashes almost half of New 
Castle. Its ruins were subsequently removed, and there is not now a 
trace of it visible. Here Mr. Read resided for many years in the style 
of the colonial gentry, who, even when having no more than the mod- 
erate income of Mr. Read, maintained a state and etiquette which have 
long disappeared. The furniture, though plain, was in the style of its 
day, and there was the necessary plate — both dinner and tea services — 
and the hospitality becoming Mr. Read's station maintained. How 
could this be, Mr. Read not being affluent ? His income would buy far 
more then than now, and he had a small farm, which furnished fuel and 
other necessary articles for housekeeping, and there were two lots near 
New Castle, which afforded pasture for horses and cows, and some hay; 
besides, he generally owned his servants. The out-door affairs were 
managed by a brother of Mr. Read, an old bachelor, rough iu his man- 
ners (for he had followed the sea), but of very kind heart. 



I r^ 7 



^ 



v^^ ''H.. 



.."v-' 



-^^ / 
^°^. 



s- '"-^^ 



~o^' 









o*^ ^r, 






-^i^^*, 



A^-^ "^^. 









t^.V^ 






\^' '^^.. 



...^ 









•^\- 



■\x*- 






^ vX^^ 



V'' 



c^^ 



o 






,A'' 






x\^^ "''^- 



.^^^ 









V-., .^^ 



.^^ 



.i>^ 






,^^" ^^- 






.0* 



v^P '^ 



.0 o 



„^ I'm. 



'^>,x^^ 






.'«■■ 






